RAF destroys Libyan tug

"Since it was clear these troops continued to pose a threat to the local population, the RAF patrol engaged the ship. A direct hit was scored." RAF pilots have obliterated a Libyan boat, containing dozens of Gaddafi troops, with a laser-guided bomb.

In March, an Italian tug was seized and released.
Asso 22
Augusta Offshore SrLowned by Naples-based shipping entrepreneur Mario Mattioli. The company’s tugs are working at the Mellitah oil rig, 120 kilometres from Tripoli and 30 from the Tunisian border.
Eni, Italy's oil and gas giant which has significant interests in Libya, had rented the tug for use at oil platforms off the coast.
La Cafiero Mattioli Finanziaria CA.FI.MA. S.A.p.A. è la società capogruppo,

Arctic Sea: Algeria refuses port call

Algeria had refused to let the Arctic Sea pass into its territorial waters.
"The cargo being carried by the Arctic Sea was destined for an Algerian customer, and we offered to tug the vessel to the Algerian port of Bejaia to hand the ship over to its owner and deliver the cargo to its recipient," the Investigative Committee at the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said, adding that no reasons had been given for the refusal.
Finnish sources found the Arctic Sea again on the list of arrivals at the Port of Bejaïa in Algeria for 4 October, but then deleted from the list.

"The Arctic Sea vessel escorted by a tugboat and the Ladny patrol ship is currently anchored off Gibraltar in the Mediterranean."

Arctic Sea: 'Evidence' off-loaded to military tanker

The Russian Navy's Iman tanker will deliver material evidence from the Arctic Sea vessel to the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk in October, a high-ranking military official said on Sep. 21. "The arrival of the warship [Finnish built Aksay type tanker] in the port of Novorossiisk is scheduled for mid-October."

6617427 IMAN Tanker 4471 1966 Russia

DNo: 6617427 Year: 1966
Name: IMAN Launch Date: 3.6.66
Type: Tanker Date of completion:
Flag: RUS Keel:
Tons: 3359 Link: 1875
DWT: 4400 Yard No: 155
Length overall: 105.1 Ship Design:
LPP: 96.9 Country of build: FIN
Beam: 14.8 Builder: Rauma-Repola
Material of build: Location of yard: Rauma

Item: The 'company representative' from the management of Solchart in Finland that was denied access to the Arctic Sea off the Canaries, was Russian-based 'the shipping company’s representative from Solchart’s office in Arkhangelsk.'

Item: At last report, Solchart never filed an insurance claim. "At this point, there is, fortunately, no need to file an insurance claim because we still do not know where the ship and its crew are located," the official said without disclosing the amount the vessel was insured for.

Arctic Sea: nature of the cargo was the key

Las Palmas harbour master, under instruction from the Spanish government, rejected the request," of the Arctic Sea and its tug to dock. A Spanish diplomat admitted that the nature of the cargo was the key question in talks between Spain and Russia. "The ship's cargo is the most important aspect of the negotiations. It is not just about bureaucratic procedures involving the entrance of a ship into Spanish waters," the diplomat said.

Sirius Star sees pirate big fishes

The pirate big fishes left Harardhere on Thursday afternoon to the Sirius Star ship to get the ransom money and to set free the ship. The money had been paid in Kenya and reached the Somali pirates on a boat from Mombassa, Kenya.