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Orbital data and vessel monitoring information has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.

Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the ship is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore.

The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.

This interception was succeeded by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was brought under American control.

American agencies are now targeting a third such ship, which has been identified by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump stated recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.

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 remaining unless her speed drops”.

The group added the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.