American agents boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly carrying embargoed oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are currently targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.