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Orbital data and vessel monitoring information has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for allegedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.

Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 80km offshore.

The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several governments. When it was seized, it was falsely flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.

This interception was followed by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.

US authorities are currently targeting a third ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.

Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.

The group further stated the tanker is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.