Armed men have forced the captain and crew of a Libyan tanker held in Bulgaria to leave the ship, General National Maritime Transport Company claims.
No legal documents were presented to explain the actions and the identity of the other party is not yet clear, according to a statement from the state-owned shipping company this weekend.
The development is the latest twist in a long-running episode involving the 116,000-dwt Badr (built 2008), which has been detained in the port of Burgas for more than one year.
GNMTC said on Saturday the men, some of whom claimed to be from the Bulgarian border police, came on board the Badr on 21 December. It said the the crew was “simply ordered to leave the ship at gunpoint, under threat of violence”.
“The vessel’s communications/AIS were then immediately cut, meaning that neither the vessel’s owners nor any legitimate authority can now contact or track the whereabouts of the ship,” GNMTC said, describing the event as “a criminal act”.
A spokesperson for GNMTC told TradeWinds the crew members were now safe at their home and on Sunday evening the ship remained in Burgas.
Bulgarian authorities have been contacted for comment.
TradeWinds first reported on the detention of the Badr in February.
At that time it emerged GNMTC was pushing to secure the release of the tanker, which was caught in the middle of a “fake mortgage” fight following its arrest in November.
While a Burgas Appeal Court ordered the ship released in January this year, a regional court quickly countered with an order to stop the ship leaving port.
In June TradeWinds reported 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.
At that time GNMTC had also sought the backing of Interpol.
Since TradeWinds first reported on the dispute in February, GNMTC has prevented the tanker from being sold at a local auction.
