Satellite Image Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by US is Now Off the Texas Coast.

Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly transporting embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.

Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.

The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. At the time it was seized, it was falsely sailing under 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 first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.

US authorities are currently pursuing a third ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.

Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit 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 “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.