Imagery Image Shows Initial Venezuelan Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Off the Texas Coast.
American personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting embargoed oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several governments. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third such vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on 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 “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The group further stated the tanker is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
