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Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for reportedly transporting sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of the state of Texas.

Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently 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 incorrectly sailing under the flag of Guyana.

This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. It – unlike the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.

American agencies are currently pursuing a third such vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated 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 “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.

The group further stated the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.