Imagery Image Reveals First Venezuelan Tanker Seized by US is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
US agents roped onto the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the ship is near Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. When it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are now pursuing a third ship, which has been identified by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of fuel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The group added the vessel is “probably heading south-east towards South Africa”.
