Satellite Image Shows Initial Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Currently Near Texas.
American personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several nations. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are currently targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel left unless her velocity drops”.
The group further stated the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
