Morning Glory Arrives Safely in Tripoli, Libya under US Escort

A commercial oil tanker, the Morning Glory, carrying cargo of oil owned by the Libyan government National Oil Company, returned to Libyan capital, Tripoli on Sunday, Reuters reports.

Once in port, the Libyan forces arrested three rebels from Libya, who had seized the tanker earlier this month at Es Sider port, together with the crew. The 21-person civilian crew consists of six Pakistanis, six Indians, three Sri Lankans, two Syrians, two Sudanese and two Eritrean.

The U.S.Navy took control of the commercial tanker in international waters by request of the governments of Libya and Cyprus following its seizure. The ship was first escorted by USS Stout until March 19th when the USS Elrod took over escorting duties.

The change of escorts was for administrative reasons, Army Col. Steven Warren, a Defense Department spokesman said. The USS Stout is assigned to the U.S. European Command area of operations, while the USS Elrod has the U.S. Africa Command area of operations.

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Naval Today Staff, March 24, 2014; Image: Wikimedia