Questions Over Ownership and Flag Use
Skipper, a 20-year-old Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) bearing IMO number 9304667, is reportedly owned and managed by the Nigeria-based Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd. However, official records list Triton Navigation Corp., registered in the Marshall Islands, as the vessel’s owner.
Complicating matters further, authorities confirmed that the tanker was illegally flying the Guyanese flag when it was stopped. Guyana’s Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) responded swiftly, stating that the vessel is not on its national registry and had no authorisation to use its flag.
US sources say the interception was executed under American law-enforcement authority, with President Donald Trump announcing the operation. Beyond crude-oil theft, American investigators are also probing the vessel for allegedly transporting a large shipment of hard drugs and operating within a financial network linked to Iranian and Islamist-aligned money-laundering groups.
A search of Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) records revealed that Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd. is currently inactive. The company’s registered address—111 Jakpa Road, Effurun, Warri, Delta State—shows no associated phone contacts, raising further questions about its operations and capacity to manage a supertanker.
Industry Reactions: Concerns Over Oversight
The development has triggered strong reactions from stakeholders in Nigeria’s maritime and oil sectors.
Engr. Akin Olaniyan, President of the Centre for Marine Surveyors Nigeria, said the incident raises serious concerns about the state of Nigeria’s Port State Control (PSC) regime.
“If the vessel indeed emanated from Nigeria, it suggests our Port State Control is practically non-existent,” he said, warning that such lapses could subject Nigerian-origin vessels to heightened scrutiny abroad.
Mazi Colman Obasi, President of the Oil and Gas Service Providers Association of Nigeria (OGSPAN), questioned both the vessel’s ownership status and regulatory visibility. “I have never heard that Nigeria has a supertanker and that it is not active in CAC,” he said, calling on government agencies to improve oversight.
Otunba Sola Adewumi, President of the Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), said he would need more time to assess available information, while former NIMASA Director-General Temisan Omatseye noted that he had only just been briefed on the matter. NIMASA, through its spokesman Edward Osagie, said it had not received official communication and asked that enquiries be formally submitted.
A Port Harcourt-based energy analyst expressed frustration that oil theft persists despite the involvement of multiple agencies and private contractors in securing Nigeria’s crude-oil infrastructure. “No nation can progress if its citizens continue to steal its crude,” he said.
Broader Context: Billions Lost to Oil Theft
The incident comes against the backdrop of sobering revelations about Nigeria’s oil-sector losses. According to the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the country lost 13.5 million barrels of crude—worth approximately $3.3 billion—to theft and pipeline sabotage between 2023 and 2024.
NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Ogbonnaya Orji, speaking at the 2025 NAEC Conference in Lagos, said the lost revenue could have funded Nigeria’s entire federal health budget for a year or expanded energy access to millions of households.
He further disclosed that Nigeria earned $23.04 billion in 2021 and $23.05 billion in 2022 from the oil and gas sector, yet approximately N1.5 trillion remains owed to the Federation by companies and government agencies.
Orji highlighted NEITI’s expanded role in governance reforms, stressing that the organisation now supports transparency in licensing, metering, and the management of host-community development trust funds. The agency has also developed a Beneficial Ownership Register to expose hidden owners of over 4,800 extractive assets and launched a national open-data hub—the NEITI Data Centre.
A Growing Web of Illicit Maritime Activity
The seizure of Skipper underscores the complexities of policing maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea, where illegal bunkering, piracy, and narcotics trafficking frequently intersect. As US and international investigators deepen their probe, the case is expected to raise further questions about vessel registration, regulatory enforcement, and the shadowy networks enabling large-scale crude-oil smuggling.
For Nigeria, the incident may serve as yet another urgent reminder of the need to strengthen maritime governance—both to safeguard national resources and restore international confidence in the country’s shipping oversight systems.