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Libyan Rebels Export Oil On A North Korean Tanker

Taiu Kunimoto |
March 8, 2014 | 12:34 p.m. PST

Executive Producer

According to the rebels, the tanker is ready for their first shipment (Creative Commons/Shelba_Also)
According to the rebels, the tanker is ready for their first shipment (Creative Commons/Shelba_Also)
Libya rebels are set to export a batch of crude oil across sea using a tanker with a North Korean flag. The tanker named Morning Glory docked on Saturday and has already been loaded with oil.

“We started exporting oil. This is our first shipment,” a rebel spokesman told BBC.

Libyan government has confirmed that the tanker has docked, however, condemned the rebels’ attempt to initiate an oil trade using a “foreign” ship, calling it an “act of piracy.”

Although the tanker carries a North Korean flag, specialists are skeptical toward the legitimacy of its ownership, due to North Korean ships’ minimal activities around the Middle Eastern oceans.

Lawrence Dermody, an analyst specializing in illicit trafficking at SIPRI, assumes that the tanker may be exploiting the loopholes in maritime law using Flags of Convenience, which allows the ship to be registered under countries different from the one that it is owned.

This is not the first time that the Libyan rebels made an attempt to export oil from their port.

Libyan government are currently struggling to control the armed groups and tribesmen who has helped overthrow Gaddafi in 2011. They held on to their weapons and are now seeking to take control of the oil field, which are regarded as crucial sources of income.

Despite the government’s effort to seize the violent protests erupting over the oil fields, there has been little progress in terms of reaching a peaceful agreement.

 

Read More at BBC 

 

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