American agents boarding the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery from 21 December shows the tanker is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently positions the vessel about 80km offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several nations. When it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
American agencies are now targeting a third such vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel remaining unless her speed drops”.
The group further stated the vessel is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
