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Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting embargoed oil from Venezuela – is currently off the coast of Texas.

Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.

The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana.

This interception was followed by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.

American agencies are now pursuing a third such vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.

Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of fuel left unless her speed drops”.

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