Imagery Data Reveals First Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Near the Texas Coast.
American personnel boarding the deck of the Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are currently pursuing a third ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
