Navy SEALs Seize Oil Freighter ‘Morning Glory’ in Mediterranean

 

By Luis Martinez
@LMartinezABC
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Mar 17, 2014 3:16am

The Pentagon says that a team of Navy SEALs has boarded the oil freighter “Morning Glory” in the Mediterranean that had been seized by three armed Libyans. No one was hurt in the raid, which took place late Sunday in international waters off of Cyprus. The ship and its illicit cargo of Libyan oil will now be sailed back to Libya under the control of U.S. Navy sailors.
According to Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby, “No one was hurt tonight when U.S. forces, at the request of both the Libyan and Cypriot governments, boarded and took control of the commercial tanker Morning Glory, a stateless vessel seized earlier this month by three armed Libyans.”
The team of Navy SEALs  boarded the oil freighter from the guided missile destroyer USS Roosevelt (DDG-80) which, according to Kirby, “provided helicopter support and served as a command and control and support platform for the other members of the force assigned to conduct the mission.”
The Morning Glory will soon head to Libya under the control of a team of sailors from another American destroyer, the USS Stout (DDG-55), who will supervise the transit.
Media reports earlier in the week indicated that the freighter was a North Korean-flagged vessel loaded with 200,000 barrels of oil.  The port is currently under the control of Libyan rebel forces seeking more autonomy from the Libyan government who control crucial oil facilities and ports in eastern Libya.  It is unclear if the vessel really is a North Korea vessel.
State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki issued a statement last week that the United States was “deeply concerned by reports that a vessel sailing under the name Morning Glory is loading a cargo of illicitly obtained oil at the Libyan port of As-Sidra.”
Psaki said “This action is counter to law and amounts to theft from the Libyan people.  The oil belongs to the Libyan National Oil Company and its joint venture partners.  These partners include U.S. companies in the Waha consortium.  Any oil sales without authorization from these parties places purchasers at risk of exposure to civil liability, penalties and other possible sanctions in multiple jurisdictions.”
The Morning Glory escaped a blockade of Sidra imposed by the government in Tripoli. That precipitated a political crisis in Libya where the Libyan Parliament passed a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Ali Zeidani, who then reportedly fled to Europe.
There are real concerns now that Libya could spiral into a civil war between factions from eastern and western Libya.