Imagery Data Reveals First Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by US is Now Near Texas.

Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly carrying sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of the state of Texas.

Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the ship is near the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore.

The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several nations. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.

This interception was followed by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not under sanctions when it was brought under American control.

American agencies are now targeting a third such vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President stated recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.

Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel remaining unless her speed drops”.

The monitoring service added the tanker is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.