Imagery Data Shows First Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Now Near Texas.
American agents boarding the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for reportedly carrying embargoed oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. When it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. It – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are currently targeting a third ship, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her speed drops”.
The group added the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
