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Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for reportedly transporting sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.

Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.

The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. When it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.

This seizure was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was brought under American control.

American agencies are now pursuing a third vessel, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.

Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her speed decreases”.

The group further stated the tanker is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.