UN urges more vigilance by Malta as NATO intercepts more ships heading for Libya

The ships, namely tankers and dry cargo vessels, are being stopped South of Malta as they sail from various destinations towards Libya.

According to NATO, the ships in question were carrying “suspicious” cargo towards harbours held by Gaddafi forces.

Three weeks ago Malta-flagged dry cargo carrier Setubal Express was intercepted by British naval forces off Malta as it set sail from Valletta to Tripoli, carrying a large number of Japanese off-road vehicles and was re-directed to Malta.

On Thursday, Malta-flagged YM Jupiter laden with gasoline for Libya was boarded by NATO troops and ordered to anchor off Malta.

The YM Jupiter sailed from the Italian port of Sarroch in Sardegna after bunkering at Saras refineries, who have already been implicated in sales of refined fuels to the Gaddafi regime.

Libya has imported gasoline from Italian refiner Saras since early April, taking advantage of a loophole in United Nations sanctions that permits purchases by companies not on a U.N. list of banned entities.

Shipping sources with direct knowledge of the transactions said the cargo was delivered via ship-to-ship transfer in Tunisia before sailing to Libya.

Saras initially declined to comment but late on Tuesday issued a statement saying it had always acted in full compliance with all applicable restrictive measures concerning Libya.

Italian-flagged tanker Valle di Navarra arrived at the Tunisian port of La Skhira on 3 April and then transferred its cargo onto the Libyan vessel Anwaar Libya for shipment to Gaddafi-controlled western Libya, the shipping sources said.

The shipment is legal under U.N. sanctions against Muammar Gaddafi’s government because Libya’s General National Maritime Transport Company (GNMTC) which owns the Anwaar Libya, is not on a U.N. blacklist.

In its Tuesday statement, Saras denied having sold or delivered gasoline to GNMTC.

GNMTC is thought to be controlled by Muammar Gaddafi’s son Hannibal, who is on the U.N. blacklist of individuals subject to travel bans and asset freezes. Doing business with GNMTC is legal as long as there is no evidence that Hannibal Gaddafi will directly benefit from the transaction.

Another vessel, the Cartagena, has been also stopped off Malta over the last 24 hours as it sailed towards Libya from Turkey.

The Maltese government through Transport Malta has said that it remains vigilant “at all times” to ensure no abuse of the Maltese register to breach the UN mandated sanctions on the Libyan regime.