American personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for reportedly transporting sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by several governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are currently pursuing a third such vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel left unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
