Satellite Data Shows First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Now Near the Texas Coast.

Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of Texas.

A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently places the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.

The Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the flag of Guyana.

This interception was followed by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under American control.

American agencies are now pursuing a third such ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.

Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her velocity drops”.

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