Satellite Image Shows First Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Off Texas.
US agents roped onto the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 80km offshore.
The 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 the nation of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. It – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are currently pursuing a third such ship, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump said 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 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The group added the tanker is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
