Satellite Data Shows Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Currently Off Texas.
American agents roped onto the deck of the Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly carrying embargoed crude from Venezuela – is currently off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. When it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are now pursuing a third vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The group further stated the tanker is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
