US personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 80km offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are currently pursuing a third vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said 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 remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
