U.S. forces boarded the tanker Morning Glory which had managed to leave Libya with an oil cargo illegally sold by the authorities in Benghazi. [1].

The vessel, sailing under a North Korean flag, allegedly has an Egytian owner.

The Morning Glory is supposed to be carrying 234,000 barrels of crude oil. Its departure on March 11, right under the nose Libyan government, was hailed as a victory for the Cyrenaica separatists and led to the ouster of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan.

The crew were arrested and tansferred aboard the USS Roosevelt. The Pentagon said the vessel will return to Libya under the control of sailors from the USS Stout.

[1DoD Statement on Boarding of Commercial Tanker Morning Glory”, DoD Release No: NR-126-14, 17 March 2014.