🔗 Share this article

Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying embargoed crude from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.

A satellite firm's satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.

The Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the ensign of Guyana.

This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.

American agencies are currently pursuing a third such vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.

Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel remaining unless her velocity drops”.

The monitoring service added the vessel is “probably heading south-east towards South Africa”.