MV Morning Glory

MV Morning Glory, formerly Gulf Glory, Bandar Ayu, and Pergiwati, is a 1993-built crude oil tanker.[5] Considered a stateless vessel with stolen cargo, the tanker was seized by United States Special Operations Forces southeast of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean on March 16, 2014.[6] The intervention occurred upon the request of the Libyan and Cypriot governments.[6]

History
Name: MV Morning Glory (formerly MV Gulf Glory, MV Bandar Ayu,[1] MV Pergiwati[1])
Owner: National Oil Corporation, Libya[2] or other unknown[3]
Operator: unknown[3]
Port of registry: unknown
Completed: 1993
Identification:
Notes: As rogue vessel captured by US Navy SEALs on 3-16-2014
General characteristics
Type: Oil tanker
Tonnage:

21,804 gt

35,583 dwt[4]
Length: 179.9m
Beam: 28.1m

As Gulf Glory the vessel had previously sailed under Liberian registry. In 2011, the Morning Glory was repaired at the CIC Changxing Shipyard, China.[7]

March 2014 event

Apparently the tanker had been ordered to Libyan waters off the port of Sidra, Libya where it was seized by rebel gunmen.[3] Flying the flag of North Korea the vessel then entered the port of Sidra in early March 2014. North Korea, however, disavowed the ship once it learned that it was under rebel control.[2][6][8] Sidra is under control of an eastern Libyan militia group that under the leadership of Ibrahim Jathran defies the central government and aims for greater autonomy.[6] At Sidra the tanker was loaded with 234,000 barrels of state-owned crude oil that had been seized by the rebels.[9]

The Libyan government intended to prevent the ship from leaving the port on March 11, but failed to establish an effective blockade. As a result, the Ali Zeidan government collapsed.[9] Fearing for his safety Zeidan then fled the country.[10] The rebels had planned to sell the oil bypassing the Libyan government, however the intervention on sea blocked this attempt. The oil tanker was seized by a U.S. Navy SEAL team from the USS Roosevelt on March 16, 2014 without bloodshed.[11] The vessel was brought to the port of Zawiya, Libya and handed over to Libyan authorities on March 22, 2014 after being escorted by USS Elrod.[12][13]

References
  1. Marine Traffic
  2. "Navy SEALS board, take control of rogue Libya tanker". Fox News. 2014-03-17. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  3. Joshua Keating (2014-03-19). "The Increasingly Weird Morning Glory Story". Slate. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  4. "Morning Glory". vesselfinder.com. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  5. "Lloydslist information". Archived from the original on 2016-03-20. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  6. David D Kirkpatrick (2014-03-17). "U.S. Navy SEALs Take Control of Diverted Oil Tanker". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  7. "China: CIC Changxing Shipyard Repairs Oil Tanker MV Morning Glory". Shipbuilding Tribune. 2011-08-24. Archived from the original on 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  8. Borzou Darahahi, Neil Hume (2014-03-17). "US seizure of mystery oil tanker leaves questions unanswered". Financial Times. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  9. Adam Withnall (2014-03-17). "US Navy Seals board and capture North Korea's rogue Morning Glory oil tanker which had illegally loaded up at rebel-held port in Libya". The Independent. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  10. "Libya's former PM Zeidan flees country". Al Jazeera. 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  11. Statement by US Department of Defense
  12. http://www.stripes.com/news/africa/uss-elrod-relieves-uss-stout-in-escorting-hijacked-ship-morning-glory-1.274008
  13. Reuters (2014-03-22). "US Forces Hand Over Seized Oil Tanker to Libya". Voice of America. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
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