🔗 Share this article Imagery Data Shows First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Off the Texas Coast. American personnel roped onto the deck of the Skipper on 10 December. Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting embargoed crude from Venezuela – is now positioned near of Texas. A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December shows the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from a maritime data service presently positions the Skipper about 80km from the coast. The Skipper was seized by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the ensign of Guyana. This interception was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody. US authorities are now targeting a third such ship, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”. Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her velocity drops”. The group added the vessel is “likely heading south-east towards the South African coast”.