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Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly carrying embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of Texas.

Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore.

The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. When it was seized, it was falsely flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.

This seizure was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.

American agencies are now pursuing a third such vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.

Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her speed drops”.

The group further stated the vessel is “likely heading south-east towards the South African coast”.