🔗 Share this article Imagery Image Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Now Near the Texas Coast. American agents roped onto the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December. Orbital data and ship tracking data has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for reportedly transporting embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas. Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service currently positions the vessel about 80km offshore. The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana. This interception was followed by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under US custody. US authorities are currently targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”. Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her velocity decreases”. The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably traveling south-east towards South Africa”.