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Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly carrying embargoed oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.

Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the tanker is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from a maritime data service currently places the vessel about 80km offshore.

The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.

This seizure was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under American control.

US authorities are now targeting a third such vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.

Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted the 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 fuel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.

The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.