🔗 Share this article Imagery Image Reveals Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Now Near the Texas Coast. US personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th. Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly carrying embargoed crude from Venezuela – is now positioned near of the state of Texas. Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service currently positions 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 sailing under the flag of Guyana. This seizure was followed by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under American control. American agencies are now targeting a third vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”. Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring 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 “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her velocity drops”. The monitoring service added the tanker is “likely traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.