Imagery Image Shows Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Off Texas.
US agents roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for reportedly carrying sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the ship is near the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are currently targeting a third ship, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
