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Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for reportedly transporting embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of Texas.

Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently positions the Skipper about 80km from the coast.

The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. At the time it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.

This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not under sanctions when it was brought under American control.

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

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

The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.