Imagery Image Reveals First Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Off the Texas Coast.
American agents roped onto the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the ship is near Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.
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 said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “likely heading south-east towards South Africa”.