Tankers

Russian tanker arrested by Libya’s Tripoli government for smuggling

Military forces allied with Libya’s self-declared government in Tripoli announced on Wednesday they had captured a Russian-flagged oil tanker and its crew trying to smuggle oil from the port of Zawara, Reuters reports.

“A Russian-flagged oil tanker was captured this afternoon when it tried to smuggle oil off Zawara,” said Twafik Alskir, a senior official with Tripoli-allied naval forces. No further details were disclosed.

According to Alskir, the tanker and 11 Russian crew onboard had been detained and taken to Tripoli port.

The vessel is most likely to be product tanker Mekhanik Chebotaryov (4,849dwt, built 1975) which AIS data shows currently anchored at Tripoli rather than heading to Valletta, Malta as scheduled.

Jason Jiang

Jason is one of the most prolific writers on the diverse China shipping & logistics industry and his access to the major maritime players with business in China has proved an invaluable source of exclusives. Having been working at Asia Shipping Media since inception, Jason is the chief correspondent of Splash and associate editor of Maritime CEO magazine. Previously he had written for a host of titles including Supply Chain Asia, Cargo Facts and Air Cargo Week.
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