Satellite Image Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Off Texas.
US personnel boarding the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the tanker is near Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the Skipper about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. It – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are now targeting a third vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.
The group added the tanker is “probably traveling south-east towards South Africa”.