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Orbital data and ship tracking information has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for reportedly transporting sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of the state of Texas.

Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.

The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. When it was seized, it was falsely flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.

This interception was followed by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under sanctions when it was taken into American control.

US authorities are currently pursuing a third vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.

Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of fuel left unless her velocity decreases”.

The group further stated the tanker is “likely traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.