Satellite Image Reveals Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Near the Texas Coast.

US personnel boarding a tanker deck

American personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.

Orbital data and ship tracking data has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for reportedly transporting sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state 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 currently positions the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.

The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several governments. When it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of Guyana.

This interception was succeeded by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions 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. The US President stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.

Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her speed drops”.

The monitoring service added the vessel is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.

Mrs. Mindy Carey
Mrs. Mindy Carey

Lena is a passionate gamer and tech writer, specializing in indie games and esports coverage.