By Libya Herald reporters.
Tripoli, 14 February 2016:
A small tanker loaded with petrol has been seized off the Libyan coast and has . . .[restrict]been brought to Tripoli.
The Captain Khayyam was intercepted by a Libyan naval vessel after it had left Zuwara. Reuters reported that the Sierra Leone-registered vessel was carrying 1.6 million litres of petrol. Aboard were nine people from countries including Azerbaijan, Turkey and Ukraine. One of them was a woman.
The 900-ton Captain Khayyam is a 61 metre long bunkering tanker whose last recorded position was in Malta.
If the vessel was involved in smuggling, as has been asserted by naval spokesman Ayoub Qassem, then it would seem likely it was part of the illegal trade in fuel to Malta which the authorities in Valetta have long pledged to stamp out.
Since the Revolution, a number of suspected vessels has been intercepted by the Libyan navy, though not all of them have stopped. One tanker, the Baku ignored orders to heave to and fled back to Malta. [/restrict]
