🔗 Share this article Imagery Data Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Currently Near Texas. US personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December. Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly transporting sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of Texas. Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore. The Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. At the time it was seized, it was falsely flying the flag of the nation of Guyana. This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody. US authorities are now pursuing a third ship, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump stated recently that “it will ultimately be secured”. Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group said the vessel 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 fuel left unless her speed drops”. The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “likely traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.