🔗 Share this article Imagery Image Shows Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Off Texas. US personnel boarding the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December. Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of Texas. Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the vessel about 80km offshore. The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana. This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under American control. American agencies are currently pursuing a third vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”. Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her speed drops”. The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably traveling south-east towards South Africa”.