Imagery Data Shows First Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Now Off the Texas Coast.

US personnel boarding a tanker deck — US personnel roped onto the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.

Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed oil from Venezuela – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.

A satellite firm's satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.

The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. When it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.

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

US authorities are currently pursuing a third ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.

Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel remaining unless her speed decreases”.

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

Peter Davidson

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