Greek-owned tanker impounded for oil smuggling in Libya, crew held

The tanker was seized on Wednesday night by a Libyan coast guard patrol while at a distance of eight nautical miles from Abu Kamas, an important petrochemical complex and an oil station near the Tunisian border, as Ayumi Kashim, a coast guard spokesman, said.

The vessel Lamar, flying the Togo flag, "was in Libya's territorial waters without approval by the competent authorities, in a suspected smuggling of Libyan fuel," said the spokesman, clarifying that in the same area, many ships have been identified in the recent past pumping illegal oil.

The tanker was taken today to the naval base of Tripoli. All eight seamen are to be brought before the Attorney General, according to the spokesperson.

The ship, with a capacity of 1,945 tons, was carrying about 950,000 liters of fuel at the time it was spotted, Colonel Ambazidela Abdel Bari said to the French Agency news.

According to Reuters, LAMAR was in Tunisian waters before shutting off its transponder on March 7, a common smuggler tactic.