Imagery Image Reveals Initial Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by US is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
US personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for reportedly carrying embargoed oil from Venezuela – is currently off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December shows the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic 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 intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
American agencies are now targeting a third such vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel remaining unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
