🔗 Share this article Imagery Data Shows First Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Off Texas. US personnel boarding the deck of the Skipper on December 10th. Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas. A satellite firm's satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently places the vessel about 50 miles from the coast. The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the flag of Guyana. This interception was followed by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into American control. US authorities are now pursuing a third such ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”. Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her speed drops”. The group further stated the tanker is “probably heading south-east towards South Africa”.