Libya to hold Bulgarian ships in its territorial waters

Burgas, Bulgaria (PortSEurope) January 10, 2019 – Libya will hold every Bulgarian ship that has entered its territorial waters, according to an order by the Libyan Maritime Administration, dispatched to all commercial and oil ports in the country.

Tripoli takes action in response to actions by the Bulgarian authorities as a Libyan tanker was detained in Burgas port causing court battles that lasted for more than a year.

“Bulgarian company Bulgargeomin has carried out the maritime mortgage that has been set up, or at least the documents indicate that it was established in Greece. The ship at the end of 2017 was initially arrested, after which it was forbidden to sail while the procedures were ongoing through a private enforcement agent,” Bulgaria’s transport minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said.

The Libyan tanker stayed for two years at Burgas port. After a public sale, the ship was authorised to sail on December 27. Now it is located 20 miles from Sozopol, outside the territorial waters of Bulgaria. The dispute is private, Zhelyazkov said.

The tanker, whose property is disputed by a Bulgarian company and the state of Libya, has left the port of Burgas at the end of last year, its flag was overthrown by the Bulgarian Maritime Administration and the Border Police and handed over to an Ukrainian crew. Libya protests the decision before the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry and the United Nations (UN).

Source: Capital.bg

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