🔗 Share this article

Orbital data and ship tracking information has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.

Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the tanker is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore.

The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several nations. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.

This seizure was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was taken into American control.

US authorities are now targeting a third vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.

Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.

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