🔗 Share this article

Orbital data and ship tracking information has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.

A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the ship is near Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently positions the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.

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

This interception was followed by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under American control.

American agencies are now targeting a third such ship, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President 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 over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her speed decreases”.

The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.