A team of U.S. Navy SEALs has taken over control of the seized commercial tanker Morning Glory, the Pentagon officials announced this morning.
The operation, approved by the U.S. President Obama, was conducted last night around 2am GMT on the request of the Libyan and Cypriot governments.
“No one was hurt tonight when U.S. forces, at the request of both the Libyan and Cypriot governments, boarded and took control of the commercial tanker Morning Glory, a stateless vessel seized earlier this month by three armed Libyans,” said Rear Adm. John Kirby at the Pentagon.
“The SEAL team embarked and operated from the guided missile destroyer USS Roosevelt (DDG-80). USS Roosevelt provided helicopter support and served as a command and control and support platform for the other members of the force assigned to conduct the mission.
The vessel was carrying a cargo of 234,000 barrels of crude oil, illegally taken from the Libyan government National Oil Company by the rebels at the Libyan port of As-Sidra.
“The Morning Glory will be underway soon to a port in Libya with a team of sailors from the USS Stout (DDG-55) embarked. The sailors will be supervising the transit,” the statement further read.
[mappress] Press Release, March 17, 2014, Image: Wikimedia