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Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of Texas.

Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently positions the vessel about 80km from the coast.

The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several governments. At the time it was seized, it was falsely flying the ensign of Guyana.

This interception was followed by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.

American agencies are currently pursuing a third such ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.

Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel remaining unless her velocity drops”.

The monitoring service added the tanker is “likely heading south-east towards the South African coast”.