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- By Michael Miranda
- 03 Mar 2026
US personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting embargoed crude from Venezuela – is now positioned near of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are now targeting a third ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel left unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
Elara is a financial strategist with over a decade of experience in wealth management and entrepreneurship.