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Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting embargoed oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of Texas.

A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from a maritime data service presently positions the vessel about 80km offshore.

The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the flag of Guyana.

This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.

US authorities are now targeting a third such vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.

Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit 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 speed decreases”.

The group added the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.