The supertanker Skipper, which was seized this week by the United States near Venezuela as part of a strategy to increase pressure on Nicolás Maduro, is headed to Houston, two sources said Friday.

Reuters

The Very Large Crude Carrier, which is carrying about 1.85 million barrels of Venezuela's Merey heavy crude according to satellite images analyzed by TankerTrackers.com, is too large to enter the port of Houston and will have to anchor nearby and offload its cargo onto smaller ships, the sources added.

The Houston-Galveston sector of the U.S. Coast Guard and Port Houston did not immediately respond to requests for comment.