Tanker with 1.6 million litres of “Malta-smuggled” petrol seized by Libyan authorities

The Libya Herald reports today that a small tanker called the Captain Khayyam, registered in Sierra Leone and carrying 1.6 million litres of petrol, has been seized off the Libyan coast and taken to Tripoli.

Its last recorded position was Malta. A “naval spokesman” called Ayoub Qassem has told the press that it was involved in smuggling. The Libyan Herald says “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.”