Satellite Data Shows First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Off the Texas Coast.
US personnel roped onto the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the vessel about 80km offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several governments. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are currently pursuing a third such vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
