Northern Iraq airstrikess from CVN 77 - F/A-18 Super Hornets are recovered aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77)

F/A-18 Super Hornets are recovered aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) while underway in the Arabian Gulf. Bush is operating in the Arabian Gulf on a scheduled deployment to U.S. 5th Fleet. The president has authorized U.S. Central Command to conduct military operations in support of humanitarian aid deliveries and targeted airstrikes in Iraq to protect U.S. personnel and interests, in response to activities conducted by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists. (RELEASED) ARABIAN Gulf (Aug. 8, 2014)

U.S. air assets taking part in the campaign include Boeing F-15E Strike Eagles, Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons and General Atomics MQ-1 Predators. The Navy is participating with Boeing F/A-18 Hornets flying off the deck of USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77).

HMS Enterprise,- survey vessel, has evacuated another 93 individuals from Libya.

KAROL WOJTYLA supplying bunkers to HMS ENTERPRISE H 88 whilst berthed at the Grand Harbour, Malta -

The HMS Enterprise, the British Royal Navy survey vessel, has evacuated another 93 individuals from Libya.  The ship carrying mostly Brits, as well as Irish, Danes and Norwegians, arrived in Malta on August 6..

HMS Enterprise (H88)

Echo and Enterprise are the first Royal Navy ships to be fitted with azimuth thrusters. Both azimuth thrusters and the bow thruster can be controlled through the integrated navigation system by a joystick providing high manoeuvrability. Complete control and monitoring for power generation and propulsion, together with all auxiliary plant systems, tank gauging and damage control functions is provided through the integrated platform management system (IPMS), accessible through workstations around the ship.

[April 20 2011 Britain moves; RN RFA to Libya- marines, helos]









British Foreign Secretary William Hague said an experienced team of about a dozen British military advisers would help rebels work on organization, logistics and communications.

Hague said the advisers would not take part in any fighting, nor train or arm the opposition. He said the group would expand the work of British diplomats already in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
France is joining Britain in sending military advisers to Libya to help rebel forces.

A spokesman for the French government announced the move April 12 as French President Nicolas Sarkozy prepared to meet the head of Libya's rebels, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, in Paris.

Italy has now joined France and Britain is sending military advisers to assist rebel forces in Libya.

Maurizio Massari, a spokesman for the Italian Foreign Ministry, said Rome will dispatch military instructors to train the rebels in self-defense tactics.

THE THREE British navy ships carrying hundreds of Royal Marines to Cyprus for training are in no way linked to operations in Libya, said a British bases spokeswoman yesterday.

A report in The Times of London yesterday quoted the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) saying that a flotilla of British vessels and 600 Royal Marines would be deployed to Cyprus for amphibious exercises within the next two weeks.

The report triggered speculation that the UK was planning land operations in Libya, which was yesterday quashed by British bases spokeswoman, Connie Pierce, who said: “This is not linked to Libya at all.”

A taskforce of about 600 Royal Marines and at least six ships has left for the region, massively enhancing the UK's military strength there.

The Trafalgar- class submarine HMS Turbulence, and Type-22 frigate, HMS Cumberland – both Devonport-based – are already stationed in the Med off Libya.
Yesterday, The Sunday Times reported that Britain was sending a "taskforce" of marines and naval ships to Libya this week on a "humanitarian" mission.

The aim of the mission was to deliver emergency medical and food supplies to rebel-held towns, it said. The taskforce would include up to 600 marines from Taunton-based 40 Commando to protect ports where humanitarian supplies would be unloaded.

The newspaper said the ships, including the Devonport-based assault ship HMS Albion, were due to leave Plymouth either today or tomorrow, initially for Gibraltar. The marines will fly out to Gibraltar this week, it said.

Yesterday, Foreign Secretary William Hague denied the report, insisting they were actually "preparing for an exercise elsewhere".

Despite Mr Hague's denials, a taskforce of ships – including Albion – is due to sail for the Med shortly.

The assault ship is part of the Royal Navy's Responsive Force Task Group, which is deploying this month on Operation Cougar, the first phase of which will run in the Mediterranean until June. Also due to take part are HMS Ocean, RFA Cardigan Bay, RFA Mounts Bay, RFA Fort Rosalie, RFA Wave Knight and RFA Argus.

Five support teams from the new Maritime Aviation Support Force at RNAS Culdrose are also being deployed.

The long-planned operation will mean a significant British military resource will shortly be passing by the Libyan coast. Ocean's primary role is to carry marines supported by 12 medium support helicopters and six attack helicopters. As a landing platform, Albion is also able to embark and deploy troops and equipment by sea and air.

The use of commandos inside Libya, even as part of a humanitarian mission, would increase concerns over mission creep. The greatest need for humanitarian aid is in the rebel-held city of Misrata where fighting continues. Doctors in the city, 130 miles east of Tripoli, say at least 200 people have been killed there and 1,500 wounded. more read

Libyan-flagged Anwaar Libya,Nine million litres of petrol for Tripoli

mt Anwaar Libya

London, 7 August 2014:
Libyan-flagged Anwaar Libya, arrived in the capital at midday on August 6. It had left Misrata on Sunday. Nine million litres of petrol arrived in Tripoli by ship to address crippling fuel shortages that have paralysed the capital for a month.

Vessel's name: Anwaar Libya          Last updated: Jul 11, 2014
Ex-name(s): Maersk Rye                IMO number: 9275256
Flag: Libya                                     Call sign: 5AMV
Port of Registry: Tripoli                  Summer DWT: 34656 MT
Type of vessel: Oil Tanker              Built: May 20, 2004
Type of hull: Double Hull                Owner: Libyan Sea Carrier Ltd
Class Society: Lloyds Register       Operator: General National Maritime Transport Company


[March 23 Morning Glory arrives in Tripoli]

Morning Glory, North Korean flag

The Morning Glory is seen at the Tripoli port, March 23, 2014.

The oil tanker Morning Glory has docked back in the capital Tripoli. Libyan soldiers removed the crew on a small boat where they huddled in the open in the back on their way to Tripoli port. "They will be referred to the relevant judicial authorities," said Lieutenant Colonel Salim ash-Shwirf, standing on the tanker.

Morning Glory was being escorted by the USS Stout, a guided-missile destroyer, and 25 U.S. sailors were embarked aboard the tanker, overseeing the crew and detaining the three Libyan rebels who had taken control.

[March 20]

 The governments of Libya and Cyprus had requested American assistance in apprehending the tanker. President Obama authorized the operations just after 10 p.m.March 16 in Washington.

Within 10 minutes — before dawn March 17 over the Mediterranean — the SEALs launched their boats from the Roosevelt, a guided-missile destroyer, which also provided backup support from a shipboard helicopter.

Quickly fanning out across the Morning Glory, the SEALs captured and disarmed the three Libyans described by the tanker’s crew as hijackers. The mission was complete within two hours of boarding.

The official said the three Libyans would be in United States custody until the tanker returned to Libya, in about four days.
[March 15]The Cyprus authorities are questioning three individuals who allegedly approached the tanker which is suspected of transporting stolen quantities of oil from the rebel-held port of Sidra in Libya. 
The Attorney General of Cyprus and investigators are looking into the activities of the three, who hired a local boat from Larnaca and approached the ‘Morning Glory’ that is lying east off the coast of the island, with the intent of buying the estimated 32,000 tonnes of crude on board. 
The Cyprus Foreign Ministry said it received a request by the government of Libya on March 11 to assist in the return of the stolen amount of oil from the port of Sidra. 
The tanker did not request to moor in a Cypriot port and reports earlier on March 15 said it changed its course in a southeasterly direction in international waters.
[Earlier]A team of U.S. Navy SEALs boarded and took control of an oil tanker seized earlier this month by three armed Libyans, the Pentagon announced this morning.
The action, in international waters near Cyprus, was taken at the request of both the Libyan and Cypriot governments, the Pentagon said, adding that no one was hurt.   The SEAL team embarked and operated from the guided missile destroyer USS Roosevelt (DDG-80). USS Roosevelt provided helicopter support and served as a command and control and support platform for the other members of the force assigned to conduct the mission.

[March 15]
234,000 barrels of crude @ $109.00 might be usd 25. 5 MILLION

North Korea's Shipping Registry disowned the tanker Morning Glory. It said its dealings with Alexandria, Egypt-based Golden East Logistics Company were null and void.   That company said it had just handled the now dishonored registry negotiations and did not own the company.

[March 12 ]




The bizarre tale of the North Korean-flagged oil tanker that has been trying to escape the clutches of Libya's fragile central government has prompted days ofconflicting news coverage, precipitated the fall of the country's prime minister, and underscored the continued threat posed by its patchwork of heavily armed militias. But the tangled saga also raises a more basic question: Why on earth would a North Korean-flagged ship risk being bombed "into scrap," as one official threatened, in order to load up on Libyan crude?


It's a question that has puzzled North Korea watchers, and prompted some to speculate about deteriorating commercial relations with China or even Pyongyang's desire to shore up its energy resources ahead of a possible rocket test. Others viewed the episode as a predictable outgrowth of North Korea's growing energy needs -- and lack of scruples when it comes to bargain hunting.


"It signifies how much risk North Korea is willing to take," said John Park, a North Korea specialist at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, who emphasized that nothing can be said for certain in the absence of more information about the tanker. "The risk is much higher than just paying a Chinese broker and then shipping oil a shorter distance."


China is North Korea's primary trading partner and the supplier of as much as 90 percent of its energy. But several recent provocations have strained the relationship, from Pyongyang conductingits third nuclear test in Feb. 2013 to its missiles fired in early March that came dangerously close to a China Southern passenger jet.


Little is known about the vessel at the heart of the current standoff, the Morning Glory, beyond that it was previously flagged in Liberia. Libya's National Oil Company hassaid that it belongs to Saudi Arabia, but few experts think the ship is flying the North Korean flag of convenience (if anything, flying the Hermit Kingdom's flag all but insures surveillance and inspection.) Saudi Arabia has issued a statement denying government ownership of the vessel, and some experts believe that it could belong to Pyongyang.


"It just implies that there is a strong DPRK interest in this," said Hazel Smith, a professor of Korean studies at the University of Central Lancashire in Britain. Smith also emphasized that she was speculating with very little information. "My guess is that the ownership [of the ship] has been transferred to the DPRK recently, so the record may not have caught up with it yet."


It is also possible that a North Korean trading company is leasing a Saudi Arabian ship. "Anything much bigger than 37,000 tons would be too expensive for DPRK," said Smith. "They don't have big tankers that can carry large amounts of oil, but they can lease them, of course."


Other experts have expressed doubt about direct North Korean involvement, suggesting that the Morning Glory's crew most likely planned to sell the stolen oil on the black market. The idea that Pyongyang would attempt to purchase crude owned by Waha Oil, a joint venture between Libya's National Oil Company and Hess, Marathon, and ConocoPhillips struck some as far-fetched because of its potential to antagonize Washington. 
Mar 11, 2014 19:01:08 GMT Morning Glory, which is carrying a cargo of  Sidra [ Es Sider] crude loaded by rebels who are in control of the port in eastern Libya.   A member of the Libyan General National Congress, the country's highest political authority,says the vessel had slipped its escort.  The oil tanker took advantage of poor weather conditions to head for the open sea. The ships that were surrounding it were not in a position to follow,   The Morning Glory docked at Sidra oil export terminal in the east of the country on March 8. Sidra is one three oil ports that have been under the control of federalists under the control of Inbrahim Jadhran.   The vessel allegedly loaded 230,000 barrels of oil.   Italians deny intercepting, they say.