🔗 Share this article Satellite Image Shows Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Currently Near the Texas Coast. US personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December. Orbital data and ship tracking data has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for reportedly carrying embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of the state of Texas. Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the tanker is near Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore. The Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of Guyana. This interception was followed by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was brought under American control. US authorities are now pursuing a third ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President stated recently that “it will ultimately be secured”. Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of fuel left unless her velocity drops”. The group further stated the tanker is “probably traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.