THE laden Libyan-flagged state own tanker Cartagena was seized by Libyan rebels, perhaps with the help of NATO forces, and then diverted from its Tripoli-Malta run into rebel-held Port of Benghazi, reports Tanker Operator.
Rebels say they boarded the vessel, property of the state-owned General National Maritime Transport Co (GNMT), with the help of NATO forces, whose UN mandate to provide a no-fly zone to protect civilians has been informally extended to providing air support and military training to rebel surface forces bent on overthrowing the government that holds the capital Tripoli.
"We did not board this ship. We hailed it, and nothing was wrong according to us, so it was cleared to enter port," said a NATO official. It is understood that hailing would slow the ship to enable rebels to board.
The fate of the crew was unclear, although the rebels said they gave no resistance. A NATO officer at the alliance's operational hub in Naples, Italy, said that they had contact with the vessel.
NATO spokesman, French Army Colonel Roland Lavoie, told Agence France Presse that NATO officials had questioned the ship's master. The Cartagena berthed close to another tanker, the Anwar Afriqya, which was seized by rebels in March.