The Skipper supertanker | Photo: New York Times
The United States says it has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela over alleged crude oil theft, piracy and other transnational crimes.
MarineTraffic lists Nigeria-based Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd as operator of the vessel, and Marshall Islands–based Triton Navigation Corp as the registered owner.
US President Donald Trump described the vessel as “the largest ever seized”.
A video released by Homeland security, with the inscription: ‘KNOCKOUT. If you threaten our nation, or break the law, there is no place on land or sea where we won’t find you’, showed armed personnel rappelling from a helicopter onto the ship.
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Pam Bondi, US attorney-general, said the tanker had been under US sanctions “for multiple years” for allegedly operating within an illicit oil network that financed foreign terrorist groups.
She said the FBI, Department of Defence, Department of Homeland Security and the US Coast Guard jointly carried out the operation.
The development marks a new flashpoint in the long-running rift between Washington and Caracas — a dispute fuelled by ideological differences, oil politics and mutual accusations of interference.
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At an earlier rally, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros condemned the operation as “international piracy”, insisting that Venezuela would never become an “oil colony”.
Maritime risk firm Vanguard Tech identified the vessel as Skipper, saying it had been “spoofing” its location for an extended period.
The tanker was sanctioned in 2022 by the US treasury for allegedly helping transport oil that generated revenue for Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Quds Force.
Tracking data from MarineTraffic placed the ship under the Guyanese flag, but Guyana’s Maritime Administration later described the flag as “false”, saying the vessel was not registered in the country.
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Available logs suggest stops in Iran, Iraq and the UAE between June 30 and July 9, with its last verified position near Iran in mid-September before reappearing off Guyana in late October — though analysts warn the data may be unreliable due to spoofing.
Checks by TheCable show that Thomarose Global Ventures, registered in February 2012, is currently listed as inactive by Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
