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The United States Coast Guard, in collaboration with the U.S. Navy, has intercepted 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 (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., headquartered in the Marshall Islands.
Officials said the vessel was illegally flying the Guyanese flag at the time of its interception.
Guyana’s Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) has since clarified that the tanker is not listed on its national ship registry, confirming it had no authorisation to use the country’s flag.
Read Also: Nigerian Soldiers Still Locked In Burkina Faso – Foreign Affairs Minister
U.S. security officials disclosed that the operation was carried out under American law enforcement authority, with President Donald Trump announcing the seizure on 10 December 2025.
Investigators are also probing claims that the supertanker was transporting a large quantity of hard drugs and was tied to a broader criminal network with links to Iranian and other Islamist-backed money-laundering financiers.
A search of records at Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) revealed that Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd., associated with the ship’s ownership and management, is currently inactive.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, says the Nigerian soldiers who were on an aircraft that made a forced landing in Burkina Faso are still in trapped in that country.
Tuggar made this disclosure during a press briefing with his Beninese counterpart, Olushegun Bakari, on Thursday at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja.
Recall that on Monday, the Confederation of Sahel States (AES) accused an aircraft carrying 11 Nigerian soldiers of violating Burkinabe airspace.
The Eastern Updates reports that AES is a breakaway West African regional union made up of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic.
