🔗 Share this article Satellite Image Reveals Initial Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Off the Texas Coast. US personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th. Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas. Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently positions the vessel about 50 miles from the coast. The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the flag of Guyana. This interception was succeeded by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under American control. US authorities are now pursuing a third such ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”. Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel left unless her speed decreases”. The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.