Imagery Image Reveals First Venezuelan Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Near the Texas Coast.
US agents boarding the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly transporting embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from a maritime data service currently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are now targeting a third such vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of fuel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The group further stated the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
