The United States Coast Guard, working with the US Navy, has intercepted a Nigerian-owned supertanker, Skipper, over alleged crude oil theft, piracy, and other transnational crimes.
The 20-year-old Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), with IMO Number 9304667, is reportedly owned and managed by Nigeria-based Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd., though its registered owner is listed as Triton Navigation Corp. in the Marshall Islands.
At the time of its arrest, the vessel was illegally flying the Guyanese flag.
Guyana’s Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) swiftly denied any link to the tanker, confirming that Skipper was not on its national registry and was using the Guyanese flag without authorisation.
US authorities said the operation was conducted under American law enforcement authority. President Donald Trump announced the seizure, stating that the vessel is being investigated for transporting stolen crude and a major consignment of hard drugs, allegedly tied to Iranian and Islamist-linked money-laundering networks.
Checks with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) showed Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd. is inactive. The company, with a listed address at 111 Jakpa Road, Effurun, Delta State, has no registered phone contact.
The President of the Centre for Marine Surveyors Nigeria, Engr. Akin Olaniyan, said the incident exposes serious weaknesses in Nigeria’s Port State Control regime if the tanker indeed sailed out of Nigerian waters unchecked.
He warned that the development could trigger stricter scrutiny for vessels originating from Nigeria by foreign authorities.
Mazi Colman Obasi, President of the Oil and Gas Service Providers Association of Nigeria (OGSPAN), expressed surprise that a supertanker linked to Nigeria was inactive in CAC records and called for stronger oversight.
The Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) and former NIMASA DG Temisan Omatseye both said they needed more details before commenting. NIMASA stated it had no official information yet on the incident.
A Port Harcourt-based energy analyst described the arrest as further proof that crude theft remains rampant despite the presence of multiple security and regulatory agencies. He warned that the nation cannot progress while citizens continue to undermine its primary foreign-exchange resource.
The development comes months after the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) revealed that Nigeria lost 13.5 million barrels of crude worth $3.3 billion to theft and pipeline sabotage between 2023 and 2024 — revenue that could have funded the entire federal health budget for a year.
NEITI said it has strengthened transparency initiatives, including audits of the oil and gas sector, the Beneficial Ownership Register, and its new open-data centre aimed at fighting corruption and illicit financial flows.
