Asia

Home page

Asia

Turkish ship and 17 crew members, including an Azerbaijani, detained in Libya

08 December 2020 09:50 (UTC +04:00)

A Turkish ship transporting medicine to Libya’s port of Misrata was detained early Tuesday by forces loyal to Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar, APA reports citing Anadolu Agency.

Haftar’s forces detained the vessel and its 17 crew members, including one Azerbaijani and nine Turkish citizens, claiming they did not comply with instructions.

Ahmed Al-Mismari, Haftar’s spokesman, said on his social media account that the Jamaican-flagged commercial cargo ship Mebruka, whose owner is stated to be a Turk, was caught by Haftar’s militia. The militia claims the ship entered a prohibited area and did not respond to calls and withdrew to the port of Ras al-Hilal.

Al-Mismari added that the ship was "investigated and inspected because it violated maritime rules and laws.”