Imagery Data Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Now Off Texas.

Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed oil from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of Texas.

Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently positions the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.

The tanker 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 intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.

This interception was followed by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.

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

Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel remaining unless her velocity drops”.

The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely heading south-east towards the South African coast”.