A Libya flagged vessel steered by the rebels and assisted by contingent of
naval special forces boarded the Cartagena just outside Maltese territorial
waters on Wednesday morning.
The Cartagena is owned by the Libyan government's shipping arm, the General
National Maritime Transport Company, which is believed to be controlled by
Col Muammar Gaddafi's son Hannibal, who is on a sanctions list. It had
picked up its cargo in Turkey three months ago.
A Maltese navy ship shadowed the vessel as the boarding took place and
followed it until it had left the country's search and rescue area.
A Nato spokesman on Wednesday night admitted that the vessel was being
escorted by a naval patrol into the rebel held port of Benghazi. "We
are monitoring the ship and the ship has been hailed and signs indicate it
is co-operating with Nato forces as it approaches the shores of Libya,"
Col Roland Lavoie, the Nato spokesman said.
"Nato will follow normal procedures and it will be up to the commander of
the Nato ship involved to decide whether to board the ship, weather and sea
conditions permitting."
Petroleum Economist, an industry newsletter, first reported that the Cartagena
was seized by anti-Gaddafi rebels with the help of special forces from a
European state.
The vessel was believed to be carrying more than 250,000 barrels of petrol, a
scarce commodity in both parts of divided Libya.
Since a nationwide uprising on February 17, Libya's oil production has ground
to a practical halt and its refineries are producing minimal amounts of
fuel. The diversion of the vessel from the regime to the rebels amounts to a
severe blow.
Italy had been the main overseas exporter of refined fuel to Col Gaddafi's
regime. It has reportedly continued to ship crude oil from Libya through an
undersea pipeline.
Although there is no fuel embargo on Libya under the terms of UN mandate, the
regime has struggled to import fuel to meet its civilian and military
demands. Tunisian businessmen recently reported that the regime had swapped
five tankers of diesel fuel oil for one tanker of the more highly refined
petroleum.
Nato intercepted an oil tanker which it said it had reason to believe was set
to deliver fuel to Gaddafi's forces in May.
The newsletter said the tanker had been boarded by Libyan nationals. It said
the ship was originally chartered to land the fuel in Tripoli and had been
stranded in the Mediterranean since the Nato action against seaborne fuel
supplies in May.
Italy's defence ministry said on Wednesday that an Italian naval ship sailing
off the North African coast reported that a missile fired from Libyan
territory held by the Gaddafi regime hit the Mediterranean about two miles
away from its position. The ministry was, however, unable to ascertain if
the vessel was targeted.
