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Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for allegedly transporting embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.

A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore.

The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.

This interception was succeeded by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.

US authorities are currently pursuing a third such vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.

Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her velocity decreases”.

The group further stated the vessel is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.