Libya's navy seizes foreign tanker smuggling fuel off western coast

TRIPOLI, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Libyan navy on Thursday morning seized a foreign tanker for smuggling fuel off the coast of Zwara, some 120 km west of the capital Tripoli, a navy spokesman told Xinhua.

"An oil tanker carrying the flag of Togo with 8 crew members on board, whose nationalities have not been identified, attempted to enter the town of Abu-Kammash in Zwara," said the navy spokesman Ayob Qassem.

The tanker was seized 8 miles (12.8 km) off the coast of Abu-Kammash as it was preparing to unload the smuggled fuel, Qassem added.

The spokesman said that no clashes erupted between the navy and the smugglers or the tanker crew, and the tanker was later towed to Tripoli's naval base.

Western Libyan coast, from the capital Tripoli to the Tunisian border, has been witnessing unprecedented activities of fuel smuggling recently.

The Tripoli appeal court last week issued a verdict to confiscate a tanker called Al-Khayyam and imprison its crew members for 6 years, who were also fined 6 million dinars (4.5 million U.S. dollars) for smuggling more than 2.5 million liters of diesel.

The tanker was seized in February 2016 Libyan navy for smuggling fuel off Zwara's coast. Enditem