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Orbital data and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.

Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from a maritime data service currently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.

The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several nations. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.

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

American agencies are currently pursuing a third such ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.

Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.

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