The Greek coast guard said Monday two crew members were killed, one of them a Greek national, and another two injured, after unidentified military aircraft bombed the Araevo, a Liberian-flagged oil tanker – operated by Greece-based Aegean Shipping Enterprises affiliated to shipping tycoon Dimitris Melissanidis – at the port of Derna in Libya.
Media reports said the vessel with 26 crew members on board –21 Filipinos, 3 Greeks and 2 Romanians – was carrying 12,600 tonnes of crude oil but, according to a report in Reuters, Aegean Shipping Enterprises said no oil was spilled.
“Yesterday at 13:30 local time, a warplane bombed the front part of the ship, causing damage and injuring four crew members, of whom two died,” said Elias Syrros, the company's safety manager. “There is no oil leakage, the ship's integrity was not compromised. Damages are being assessed.”
According to Reuters, the ship, chartered by Libya's national oil company NOC, was delivering gasoil to power generators supplying the cities of Derna, Khoms, Benghazi and Misrata.
Rival factions in Libya have focussed on oil ports in their struggle to gain control of the country and a spokesman for chief of staff for Libya’s internationally recognized government claimed that the tanker was being used to transport Islamist fighters to Derna.
Ahmed Mesmari said: “We had warned any ship not to dock at the port without prior permission”.