Satellite Data Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by US is Now Near Texas.
American personnel boarding the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the ship is near Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service currently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
American agencies are now pursuing a third such vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit 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 decreases”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “probably heading south-east towards the South African coast”.