A Bulgarian outfit that arrested a Libyan-owned tanker as part of what it describes as a 28-year legal row has broken its silence over the case, saying it is now the legitimate owner of the vessel.
Bulgargeomin said the litigation centring on the General National Maritime Transport Co (GNMTC) 116,000-dwt ship Badr (built 2008) is now "legally resolved", ending what it said was a saga dating back to 1989 to recover debt from Libya.
Seizure in 2017
The statement by the company, which seized the Badr through court proceedings in November 2017, comes after Libyan state-owned GNMTC expressed fears that Bulgargeomin was poised to sell the vessel.
The Sofia-based company said: "We are perplexed by the attempts of the state of Libya, through its smear campaign propounding information, especially of a biased and misleading nature, in order to denigrate Bulgarian institutions and a company with proven international experience such as Bulgargeomin Ltd."
Bulgargeomin EAD, whose website touts it as an oil and gas company, was liquidated in 2013. The Badr case has been waged by Bulgargeomin Ltd, which bought the business out of liquidation but whose shareholders are not disclosed.
Bulgargeomin Ltd claims to be the successor of all rights of the earlier company, including what it describes as claims for LYD 6.22m ($4.48m in today's dollars) in debt from the state of Libya dating back 28 years.
Expulsion from Libya
The statement said that Bulgargeomin was expelled from Libya in 2003, making it unable to press its claims in the legal system there.
It asserted that the claims were partially settled, with the Badr put up as security.
Bulgargeomin has rejected assertions by GNMTC that the mortgage was falsified, as well as Greek notary Ioanna Andreadakis' claim that the seal on the document was not hers.
As TradeWinds reported last month, GNMTC feared that the ship was being prepared for sale after alleging that crew were forcibly removed.
Bulgargeomin, however, has claimed that the Bulgarian Border Police and Maritime Administration boarded the ship in the Black Sea Port of Burgas and the crew were replaced voluntarily, with compensation.
"We would like to emphasise that [Bulgargeomin's latest] allegations are completely false and has nothing to do with the truth," said a GNMTC spokesman.
He added that the company has proof that Bulgargeomin Ltd is "an imposter".
TradeWinds first reported on the detention of the Badr in February last year, when the Libyan tanker owner was aiming to secure its release as a result of its allegations of a "fake mortgage".
An appeals court in Burgas ordered the ship released in January last year, but a regional court countered with an order to prevent it from leaving port.
Last June, TradeWinds reported that criminal allegations had been made in Greece and Bulgaria, and the Joint War Committee of the Lloyd’s Market Association had been called in to assist.
