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Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.

Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from a maritime data service presently positions the vessel about 80km from the coast.

The Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. When it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.

This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under American control.

American agencies are currently pursuing a third such vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.

Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her velocity drops”.

The monitoring service added the tanker is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.