Libya’s Coast Guard has intercepted a tanker suspected of involvement in fuel smuggling operations while in waters off the country’s western region and headed for Malta, local and international media on Saturday quoted a coast guard source as saying. The tanker’s crew, consisting of Turkish, Ukrainian and Azerbaijani nationals, was attempting to smuggle about 1 million liters of Libyan oil out of the county, the Libyan Observer cited the source as telling media outlets, without specifying the type of oil carried. Other reports said the tanker was carrying oil products, but were inconsistent on whether the fuel was gasoline or diesel and on the volume of the vessel’s cargo. Estimates ranged from 1.6 million to 2 million liters. The tanker, identified as Captain Khayyam and flying a Sierra Leone flag, was intercepted Friday during a coast guard scouting mission and escorted to a naval base in Tripoli, a number […]