This morning, the press was abuzz with reports that last Monday, in the Mediterranean off Cyprus, US Navy SEALS boarded and took control of an oil tanker, Morning Glory, which had recently loaded a cargo of Libyan oil in the port of Sidra. The SEALs conducted the operation from the guided missile destroyer USS Roosevelt (DDG-80).  The Morning Glory was returned to Libyan waters with a team of sailors from a second US Navy destroyer, USS Stout, aboard.   There were no causalities reported in the raid.

The press has used a variety of adjectives to describe the tanker. It has been referred to as “hijacked“, “rogue“, “rebel“, “diverted” and “mystery.”  The ship entered the port under a North Korean flag but North Korea denied that the ship was still under its registry.  Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby described the Morning Glory as “a stateless vessel seized earlier this month by three armed Libyans.”

So, who owns the Morning Glory?  Who owns the oil?  And why did Navy SEALs seize the ship?

Who owns the ship is unclear. According to Vessel Finder, the Morning Glory is a 35,583 DWT tanker flying a North Korean flag.

Who owns the oil is also disputed. The US and the transitional government in Tripoli, say that the oil is owned by the Libyan government National Oil Company. It is believed the eastern Libyan militia sought to sell the oil in the Morning Glory. The militia is lead by Ibrahim Jathran, who has led an eight-month blockade of Libya’s main oil ports, demanding greater autonomy and a bigger cut of the oil revenue for his region, which contains most of the country’s oil reserves.

The Port of Sidra is reported to be controlled by the eastern Libyan militia. The Morning Glory apparently arrived in the port around March 8th and loaded around 30,000 tons of Libyan crude oil.  The Libyan government vowed to prevent the tanker from leaving. Libya’s prime minister, Ali Zeidan, threatened to take military action, if necessary.  Last Monday, the Libyan government claimed to have stopped the ship from sailing, which was denied by the rival militia.

Apparently the Libyan Navy failed to stop the tanker.  Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said that the SEAL raid was undertaken “at the request of both the Libyan and Cypriot governments.”