🔗 Share this article

Orbital data and vessel monitoring information has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying embargoed oil from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.

Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the Skipper about 80km from the coast.

The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several nations. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.

This interception was followed by the capture of a second 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 now pursuing a third such ship, which has been identified by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President stated recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.

Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.

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