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Orbital data and ship tracking information has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for allegedly transporting embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.

Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from a maritime data service presently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.

The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.

This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.

American agencies are now targeting a third such ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.

Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel left unless her speed drops”.

The group further stated the tanker is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.