Imagery Image Reveals First Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by US is Now Near the Texas Coast.
American personnel roped onto the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for allegedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the ship is near Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service currently positions the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. At the time it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are currently pursuing a third such ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her speed drops”.
The group added the tanker is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
