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Seized oil tanker arrives in Benghazi after receiving NATO clearance
UPDATE 4 | A Libyan tanker said to have been seized by rebels opposing Col. Gaddafi has arrived in the rebel-held port of Benghazi this morning, after being cleared to proceed by NATO ships enforcing an arms embargo, NATO said.
4 August 2011, 12:00am
Karl Stagno-Navarra
Karl Stagno-Navarra
2 min read
Sources reported that Libyan rebels seized the tanker ‘Cartagena’ which belongs to the Libyan government’s shipping arm, off Malta and set course for Benghazi.
NATO officials said nations enforcing a U.N. arms embargo, had hailed the ship in the Mediterranean and cleared it to proceed.
“We just received news that Cartagena has entered the port of Benghazi,” said David Taylor, maritime spokesman for NATO’s Libya operation.
“We hailed her yesterday afternoon we were satisfied as to the ship’s condition and she was allowed to proceed,” he said. “There was no reason not to allow this vessel to proceed.”
Taylor declined to comment on a report in a petroleum industry newsletter, the Petroleum Economist, that the Cartagena was seized off Malta last Tuesday by anti-Gaddafi rebels with the help of special forces from a European state.
NATO military spokesman Colonel Roland Lavoie said earlier that during the NATO hailing process “there were no such indications”, but gave no more details.
The vessel belongs to Libya’s General National Maritime Transport Company (GNMTC), which is believed to be controlled by Gaddafi’s son Hannibal, who is on a U.N. sanctions list and subject to an asset freeze and a travel ban.
The Petroleum Economist said the Cartagena was carrying almost 40,000 tonnes of gasoline. It said the ship was originally chartered to land the fuel in Tripoli and had been stranded in the Mediterranean after NATO began intercepting seaborne fuel supplies for Gaddafi in May.
While not specifically charged with enforcing a fuel embargo on Libya, NATO said last May that it had intercepted an oil tanker which it said it had reason to believe was set to deliver fuel to Gaddafi’s forces.
The Petroleum Economist said the rebels acted without the knowledge of the Benghazi-based rebel council.
It quoted “a source familiar with the operation” as saying a European government had lent logistical support to the operation, which it said was believed to have involved special forces boarding the ship from the air.
An Armed Forces of Malta patrol boat is reported to have shadowed the Cartagena.
Rebels fighting Gaddafi also seized a Libyan state-owned gasoline tanker carrying gasoline to Libya for the National Oil Corporation in March.
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Where did you get your info. you look like you are well versed in what is happening in Libya.
To board a ship without authorization is an act of piracy and that is that. The fact that a defector general was murdered by the rebel side says much about what are the real reasons behind the rebellion. Europe has worked quite satisfactorily with Gadaffi in the past .
As regards your assertion that all the tribes in libya were in favour in asking NATO to invade Libya I wounder were you got this ino from.
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BTW the democratic protestors are there after the general election of all Libya. The citizens voting for the legal government comes from the various tribes in Libya. All these tribes called NATO together elected a new democratic government not like the other one that has been ruling before.
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these democratic protesters have now turned pirates apart from murderers of their own comander in chief
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Isn't this an act of piracy?
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@jafarrugia yes they are there but sleeping it off also how could the authorities don't realise that a Libyan tanker was bunkering in Malta and do not check do they know that there is a war there and this Libyan vessel could have been carrying wepons etc etc etc....just wake up and be counted
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Wouldn't be a bad idea to actually use the patrol boats, i go past Pieta every day and the same ones are always there, do they work??? or just for show??
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"A Maltese government spokesman said that the Maltese government was unaware of the operation"
Waky waky...the government is there to specifically know what is going on around it and to do what it can to protect the Maltese territory
