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Orbital data and ship tracking data has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now positioned near of Texas.

A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is near Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from a maritime data service currently positions the vessel about 80km offshore.

The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the flag of Guyana.

This interception was succeeded by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.

American agencies are now targeting a third such ship, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.

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

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