Satellite Image Reveals Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
US personnel boarding the deck of the Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring information has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for reportedly carrying sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December shows the ship is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 80km offshore.
The Skipper was seized by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. When it was seized, it was falsely flying the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are now targeting a third ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The group further stated the vessel is “likely heading south-east towards the South African coast”.
