Satellite Data Shows First Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Currently Near the Texas Coast.
US personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service presently positions the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several nations. When it was seized, it was falsely flying the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are now targeting a third such ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her speed decreases”.
The group further stated the vessel is “probably traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
