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Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of Texas.

Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the tanker is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from a maritime data service presently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.

The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several nations. At the time it was seized, it was falsely flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.

This interception was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.

US authorities are now targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.

Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her speed decreases”.

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