Imagery Image Shows Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by US is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
US personnel roped onto the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. When it was seized, it was falsely flying the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are currently targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The group further stated the tanker is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
