The United States Coast Guard, working with the US Navy, has seized a Nigerian-owned supertanker, Skipper, over allegations of crude oil theft, piracy, and other transnational crimes. The vessel, a 20-year-old Very Large Crude Carrier with IMO Number 9304667, is reportedly owned and managed by Nigeria-based Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd., though its registered owner is Triton Navigation Corp., headquartered in the Marshall Islands.
Authorities said the tanker was illegally flying the Guyanese flag at the time of the seizure. Guyana’s Maritime Administration confirmed that Skipper was not registered under its flag. US security sources added that the vessel was also suspected of transporting hard drugs and operating within a network linked to Iranian and Islamist-backed money-laundering financiers.
Reacting to the seizure, Engr. Akin Olaniyan, President of the Centre for Marine Surveyors, Nigeria, said if the tanker departed from Nigerian waters, it highlighted weaknesses in the country’s Port State Control regime. Mazi Colman Obasi, President of the Oil and Gas Service Providers Association of Nigeria, urged stronger oversight of shipping operations.
The incident underscores persistent challenges in Nigeria’s maritime and oil sectors. Earlier this year, the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative disclosed that Nigeria lost 13.5 million barrels of crude worth $3.3 billion to theft and pipeline sabotage between 2023 and 2024. NEITI Executive Secretary Dr. Ogbonnanya Orji noted that stronger regulatory enforcement, transparency, and governance are critical to safeguarding national oil revenues and preventing future transnational violations.
