🔗 Share this article Imagery Data Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Currently Near Texas. American agents boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on December 10th. Orbital data and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for allegedly carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of Texas. Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the Skipper about 80km offshore. The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on 10 December and has been sanctioned by several governments. When it was seized, it was falsely flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana. This interception was succeeded by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under US custody. US authorities are now targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”. Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her speed decreases”. The group added the vessel is “probably traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.