3 Georgian sailors detained in Libya, Sea Transport Agency head says

Head of Georgia’s Sea Transport Agency of the Ministry of Economy of Georgia, Mamuka Akhaladze, says that three Georgian sailors, a captain among them, have been detained in Lybia.

The three are among the 11 crew members of a Turkish ship sailing under the Tanzanian flag who were detained in Lybia on August 30.

We learnt about the detained Georgian sailors yesterday, from the family members of one of the sailors,” Akhaladze said.

All crew members are in pre-trial detention now. An alleged reason of the detention is an illegal ship load. However, for now we have no confirmed information over the reason and the information is being checked with the participation of Georgia’s Foreign Ministry,” Akhaladze added.

Akhaladze said his agency has no negative information over the health condition of the detained sailors and stressed that receiving or confirming information form Lybia "is not easy.”

Libya Herald writes that the Tanzanian-flagged oil products tanker had been tracked for several days according to a coastguard official in Tripoli. 

The 43 year-old vessel, once called the Amari, allegedly contained 1,160,000 litres of fuel, said navy spokesman Ayoub Gassem. He claimed the cargo was being smuggled. Another coastguard official said the tanker had been tracked for several days beforehand. However, it is unclear were the diesel was loaded,” the media reported. 

Georgia’s Foreign Ministry reported they have been trying to receive details from Libya from yesterday, "as soon as we received the information on the detention.”