Middle EastTankers

Greek tanker ventures back to war-torn Derna port

Tripoli: Libya’s National Oil Company has revealed that a foreign tanker has called at the eastern port of Derna for the first time since a Greek tanker was bombed by a government warplane in January, an attack that killed two seafarers and brought a strong rebuke from the Greek government.

The Malta-registered tanker Naftilos (37,379 dwt; 2003-built) delivered heavy fuel to Derna’s power plant a week ago, NOC said in a statement. “This will give a positive signal to the oil market that Libyan ports are safe,” it said. Nevertheless, fighting in and around Derna is reported to be ongoing.

Satellite imagery from VesselsValue.com (pictured) shows the ship’s call. The ship, owned by Greece’s Ancora Investment, is now in Turkish waters, heading to the Black Sea.

Libya’s bitter civil war has seen ports shuttered and pipelines targeted by warring factions. Libyan oil output is below 500,000 barrels per day, a third of what the country pumped before 2010. Earlier this week, protests stopped crude flows to the eastern Libyan oil port of Zueitina, one of the few ports that has continued to export crude from the North African nation.

Libyacall

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