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Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.

Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore.

The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several nations. At the time it was seized, it was falsely flying the ensign of Guyana.

This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.

American agencies are now targeting a third such vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.

Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her speed decreases”.

The monitoring service added the tanker is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.