Imagery Image Shows Initial Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Off the Texas Coast.

Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting embargoed crude from Venezuela – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.

Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the ship is near Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.

The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. At the time it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.

This interception was succeeded by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.

American agencies are currently pursuing a third such ship, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.

Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her speed drops”.

The group further stated the vessel is “probably heading south-east towards South Africa”.