🔗 Share this article Satellite Image Shows First Venezuelan Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Off the Texas Coast. American agents boarding the deck of the Skipper on December 10th. Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly transporting embargoed oil from Venezuela – is currently off the coast of Texas. A satellite firm's satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the tanker is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 80km from the coast. The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. When it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the flag of the nation of Guyana. This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under US custody. American agencies are currently targeting a third ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”. Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her velocity decreases”. The group further stated the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.