A Crimean oil tanker that was shot at by a Libyan coastguard vessel after refusing orders to stop now lies anchored near the Hurd’s Bank, in Maltese waters.
The Libyans say the ship had loaded an illegal oil shipment or some other form of contraband.
Footage shot from aboard the Libyan vessel, which has been uploaded to the internet, shows the coastguard vessel chasing the tanker and ordering it to stop. After the tanker fails to stop its engines, the Libyan vessel uses a double-barrelled 30mm gun to fire several shots into the tanker, from a very close distance, with some of the shells hitting the merchant vessel near the waterline.
According to some reports the tanker was taking in water and was originally thought to have capsized. But after vanishing off the radar screens, the ship reappeared near Malta. The Libya Herald says that, according to Russian officials, all crew members were safe.
“Last Saturday, Libyan navy spokesman Ayoun Gassem said that the tanker, owned by a Crimea based company but Comoros-flagged, had been fired upon after it refused demands from a coastguard boat to stop and be searched. He claimed that it had been involved in fuel smuggling,” the Libyan news website said.
The coastguard said it had been monitoring the vessel, claiming that it had anchored in the Bukhamash area and taken onboard a cargo of fuel. It then fired on the vessel.
According to Libyan navy and coast guard spokesman, the engine room and the fuel tanks were hit. The Libya Herald said the footage showed the vessel being hit by gunfire and liquid gushing out.
“According to Gassem, the engine room and fuel tanks were hit and the vessel then started listing.” The Herald said it was not clear what the liquid was but it appeared to be lighter and clearer than oil.
It seems that the Russians, however, are presenting a different reason for the incident. They say that, rather than being involved in smuggling, there were “financial issues” between the Swiss company that had chartered the tanker and unnamed Libyans.
The Goeast is owned by UVAS-TRANS, which is based in the Crimean port of Kerch. Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014. The vessel, built in 1977, has a length of 132 metres and a deadweight of 9,657 tonnes.
According to the Maritime Bullettin, the vessel’s AIS (sutomatic identification system) reappeared on the map when the vessel had reached Malta’s offshore anchorage area on Wednesday.
It said the fact that the tanker had not sunk was not surprising, adding that this kind of ship is very resilient and unlikely to founder as a result of a few holes in the hull.
“As with quite a number of cases of cargo ships seizures in Libyan waters, this story most probably, will remain unclear, especially considering the character of business Crimea-based companies are involved in, after the peninsula was annexed by Russia – it’s a gray-black zone of dubious business activities, including various types of contraband, from arms to cigarettes,” the website said.
Photo by Ken Watson, MarineTraffic.com