Nigerian Navy Detains Chinese-Owned Tanker Accused of Stealing Oil
The Nigerian Navy is publicizing its recent arrest of a Chinese-owned tanker and its crew as part of an ongoing effort that is cracking down on oil theft. It is alleging the vessel had illegally loaded crude oil without the required documentation or lawful authorization.
The command operations officer, Commodore AA Umar, asserted that the tanker Filia (3,158 dwt) had remained within the vicinity of the offshore terminal for more than seven days, during which time it was under surveillance by the Nigerian Navy. He told reporters that they believed the vessel was “waiting for an opportunity to illegally access crude oil facilities.”
The ship, which was built in 1993, has been reported under the ownership of a Hong Kong-based company since March 2026. It is now registered in São Tomé and Príncipe after having operated under the Chinese flag for at least two decades.
Nigeria intercepted the tanker, which was observed holding offshore for more than a week, before loading crude oil overnight on July 23 (Nigerian Navy)
The Nigerian commander said they had observed the vessel loading and attempted to head out to sea overnight on July 23. It was at this time that a Nigerian patrol boat moved to intercept the tanker. The Filia was stopped at about 04:00
“On sighting the Nigerian Navy ship, the crew began discharging the stolen crude oil into the sea, thereby causing maritime pollution,” asserted Umar. He reported that when they searched the vessel, they found it had loaded about 650 metric tonnes of crude oil, estimated to be worth more than N660m ($490,000). The ship also had nearly 33 metric tonnes of fuel oil aboard.
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The Filia, along with the 12 crewmembers that were aboard, was taken into custody. A further investigation is underway, and they may be prosecuted for the theft.
The Navy said it remains committed to supporting the national efforts to increase crude oil production while also protecting the infrastructure and operations. It has an ongoing program, called Operation Delta Sentinel, and it contends that thanks to multiple interdictions, it was able to recover over 4.7 million liters of petroleum products and deactivate over 58 illegal refining sites between April and June 2026. It says as a result of its crackdown, Nigeria’s crude oil production reached 1.89 million barrels per day in July 2026.
