Libya: UN Security Council blacklists rival govt's oil shipment

The UN Security Council has blacklisted Distya Ameya, an Indian-flagged tanker, for shipping its first cargo of crude in defiance of the country’s UN-backed government.

The sanctions committee has put the cargo ship on the spotlight, based on information it received from the Tripoli-based government that it was carrying oil in violation of a 2014 UN resolution prohibiting shipments from rebel-held ports.

The eastern government has set up its own National Oil Corporation (NOC) to act in parallel to the Tripoli-based NOC that is recognized internationally as the only legitimate seller of Libyan oil.

UN Security Council sanctions committee blacklists ship carrying oil from eastern #Libya, preventing it dock https://t.co/oMbZcB4uV6

— Mary Fitzgerald (@MaryFitzger) April 28, 2016

The vessel departed from a Libyan port, overnight carrying 650,000 barrels of crude bound for Malta. The port is believed to be under a rival government in the east of the country and the UN sanction could deepen the divisions that have spurred chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.

It is believed that the tanker may have been recently sold to an unknown buyer and its name may have been changed to Kassos.

AFP, Reuters