🔗 Share this article Imagery Data Reveals First Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by US is Currently Near the Texas Coast. American agents boarding the deck of the Skipper on December 10th. Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly carrying embargoed oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of Texas. A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore. The Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana. This interception was succeeded by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into American control. American agencies are currently targeting a third such vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”. Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her speed decreases”. The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.