FOLLOWING media reports on the seizure of a Nigerian-owned vessel by the United States Coast Guard over alleged stolen crude, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has confirmed that the vessel last sailed to Nigeria in 2024 but said they knew nothing about its owners, saying that Thomarose was not registered with the agency.

In a statement by its Head of Public Relations, Mr. Edward Osagie, the agency confirmed that the
vessel sailed into Nigerian waters at some point in 2024. Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, however reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to collaborate with all relevant stakeholders, including U.S. authorities, in the ongoing investigations, stressing that criminality will not be tolerated in Nigerian waters.

Part of the statement reads: “The attention of the Management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has been drawn to media reports stating that the United States Coast Guard, in collaboration with the U.S. Navy, intercepted a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) SKIPPER with IMO Number 9304667, alleged to be Nigerian-owned and involved in crude oil theft and other transnational crimes.

“NIMASA wishes to put on record that the VLCC SKIPPER is not a Nigerian-flagged vessel, and its purported owners, Thomarose Global Ventures Limited, were not registered with NIMASA as a shipping company. An analysis of the vessel’s movement, monitored through the Agency’s Command, Control, Communication, Computers and Intelligence (C4i) Centre, shows that the vessel was last sighted in Nigerian waters on 1st July 2024.

“After departing Nigerian waters, the vessel continued on its international voyage pattern and was tracked operating in the Arabian Sea (Asia) and later in the Caribbean region, where the U.S. interdiction eventually took place. Records indicate that SKIPPER, formerly owned by Triton Navigation Corp, has undergone multiple name changes over time.”
It was, however, gathered that the registered corporate address of Thomarose Global Services is non-existent, as checks at 111 Jakpa Road, Effurun, Warri, Delta State, showed no such company operating at the location.
Vanguard further gathered that between August 13, 2024 and January 29, 2025, the vessel was sighted around Kharg Island near Iran. From there, it moved to Singapore between January 29 and March 8, 2025. Between March 8 and July 6, 2025, the Skipper operated in Sri Lanka and Kharg Island, Iran, and was later tracked between Kharg Island and Hong Kong from July 6 to August 13, 2025.

From August 13 to November 14, 2025, the vessel reportedly transported crude to China from the José Terminal in Venezuela. The vessel was last sighted at the José Terminal on November 14 before it was intercepted by United States authorities.
Recall that the Skipper was sanctioned by the United States Treasury Department in 2022 for its alleged role in a crude oil smuggling network supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah. It was also reported that around October 2025, the vessel switched off its Global Information System (GIS) in an attempt to conceal its movements.

Meanwhile, the United States of America, the Nigerian Navy and other agencies have decided to collaborate in order to carry out a comprehensive investigation into the allegations of crude oil theft, piracy, and other transnational crimes. It was gathered that all related agencies and organisations have started working together to unravel the circumstances leading to the alleged oil theft and arrest.

A top maritime sector leader, who pleaded to be anonymous because he was not authorised to speak, said: “Investigation has started with not only the USA authorities but also the Nigerian navy working together. We hope they would get to the bottom of it and adequate sanctions meted out to the alleged oil thieves.”
Reacting to arrest of the vessel, former Director General of NIMASA, Mr Temisan Omatseye, said the United States was “trying to hang a dog by giving it a bad name,” noting that the vessel was intercepted in international waters and not American waters. Similarly, the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners (NAMM) has also called on the Nigerian Government to send a delegation or set up a committee to investigate the allegations. President of the association, Captain Tajudeen Alao, said there is a need to get to the bottom of the scandal to establish the true position of the situation, since Nigeria’s name had been mentioned.

He added that the Nigerian government should collaborate with the United States and other stakeholders involved with the vessel to ascertain the facts about the ship’s movements.

In his own reaction, Executive Director, Operations and Technical, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, Capt. Warredi Enisuoh, said: “This is a good development. Tantita is doing a lot to tackle oil theft within Nigeria. We are also glad that other nations, especially the United States of America are getting involved in it. However, subject to the outcome of the ongoing investigations, we can say that the battle against oil theft is spreading, attracting more support globally. The credit should go to the President Bola Tinubu’s administration.”

Recently, the NNPC Limited said crude oil theft in Nigeria was being driven by sophisticated international syndicates exploiting security gaps across the country.
Also, the executive director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Rafsanjani, said: “If we are still treating oil theft with the lackadaisical attitude that it is being treated, definitely we will not see an end to the oil theft. At the end of the day, it is the generality of the communities that suffer.

“Communities believe there’s a direct link between crude oil theft and the complicity of some companies and security agencies, which undermines national revenue and exacerbates local grievances.

“This is an urgent call to action for government, oil companies, financial institutions, and civil society to prioritise transparency, accountability, and collaboration to secure a just and sustainable future for oil-producing regions.”