Satellite Image Reveals Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by US is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
American agents boarding the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is currently off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service currently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. When it was seized, it was falsely flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are now targeting a third ship, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
