By Charles Pemu 
The United States Coast Guard, in collaboration with the US Navy, has intercepted and seized a Nigerian-owned supertanker, the Skipper, a 20-year-old Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), over grave allegations of crude oil theft, piracy, and other transnational crimes.
The vessel, 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. Authorities confirmed the tanker was illegally flying the Guyanese flag at the time of its arrest.
US security sources disclosed that the seizure was executed under American law enforcement authority, with President Donald Trump reportedly announcing the operation. Beyond suspicions of transporting stolen crude, the vessel is also being investigated for allegedly transporting a large consignment of hard drugs and operating within a network backed by suspected Iranian and other Islamist-linked money-laundering financiers.
Guyana’s Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) swiftly confirmed that the Skipper is not on its national ship registry and was using the country’s flag without authorization.
A check with the Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Abuja, showed that the Nigerian managing company, Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd., whose corporate address is listed in Warri, Delta State, is currently inactive.
Reacting to the international seizure, stakeholders within Nigeria’s maritime and energy sectors expressed concern.
Engr. Akin Olaniyan, President of the Centre for Marine Surveyors, Nigeria (CMS), warned that if the vessel indeed departed from Nigeria before the interception, it indicates serious weaknesses in Nigeria’s Port State Control regime. He stated that such a lapse means any vessel leaving Nigerian waters may now face stricter scrutiny globally.
Similarly, Mazi Colman Obasi, National President of the Oil and Gas Service Providers Association of Nigeria (OGSPAN), expressed surprise that a Nigerian supertanker was not active on the CAC register, urging the government and agencies to enhance regulatory oversight.
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) said it had no official information on the incident at the time of reporting.
The interception comes after revelations that Nigeria lost a total of $3.3 billion worth of 13.5 million barrels of crude oil to theft and pipeline sabotage between 2023 and 2024. Dr. Ogbonnanya Orji, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), disclosed this loss earlier this year, noting the revenue could have supported a full year of the federal health budget. Orji emphasized that a nation cannot progress if its citizens continue to steal its primary resource for foreign exchange generation.