The long, meandering voyage of the North Korea-flagged oil tanker Morning Glory came to an end overnight, when a “large number of commandos” from the USS Roosevelt attacked and captured the ship.
The Morning Glory was carrying tens of millions of dollars worth of oil from the Sidra oil terminal, a Libyan terminal once operated by the state oil company in cooperation with Western oil companies (primarily Italy’s Eni) but now under control of secessionists.
The Libyan government botched their attempt to capture the Morning Glory, setting it on fire with a missile but allowing it to escape into the sea. The ship apparently had no idea who to sell the oil to, however, and was just milling about the Mediterranean Sea near Cyprus hoping to find a buyer for its grey-market crude.
The US spun the attack as “supporting our Libyan partners.” Libya considered the ship loading oil an “act of piracy,” though the International Maritime Bureau insisted this was not the case.
Considering how long it took for the US to catch up with the ship it may not be much deterrent for future tankers to try the same thing, as if they’d actually had someplace to sell the oil lined up beforehand the transaction would likely have been completed before the US got there.
Looks like a "buyer" was found… 😉
Now I understand the true meaning of DOD: Department of Oil-industry Defense.
I wonder how long before the MSM reports on this act of (US) piracy?
The MSM spin is that the US thwarted an act of piracy, and saved Libya from embarrassment over losing the oil. Mentioned in passing is that American companies stood to lose revenue. Unmentioned is that none of this could or would have occurred had the US and NATO not created chaos in Libya to begin with.
Is the ship still under North Korean flag (which does not mean that it is owned by North Kore or a North Korean)?
If this was an "act of piracy" then the piracy of the oil was not committed by the owner(s) of the ship but by the secessionists who captured the port and its facilities and who sold the oil.
Ergo it seems to me that the capture of the ship by the US commandos may be illegal hence it would be a "piracy".
The commandos should have attacked and occupied the seat of the secessionists in Benghazi and have arrested these "evil oil stealers" who have disobeyed our heroic ally, the government of Libya in Tripoli. Taking the ship was obviously much easier. No "boots on the ground" but "boots on a ship"!