MV ''Morning Glory'', formerly ''Gulf Glory'', ''Bandar Ayu'', and ''Pergiwati'', is a 1993-built

crude oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crud ...

. Considered a stateless vessel with stolen cargo, the tanker was seized by United States Special Operations Forces southeast of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

in the eastern

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

on March 16, 2014. The intervention occurred upon the request of the

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

n and Cypriot governments. As ''Gulf Glory'' the vessel had previously sailed under

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

n registry. In 2011, the ''Morning Glory'' was repaired at the CIC Changxing Shipyard, China.

March 2014 event

Apparently, the tanker had been ordered to Libyan waters off the port of

Sidra, Libya Sidra or Sidr ( ar, السدرة) is a port about 23 km west of Ra's Lanuf in Libya. It is Libya's largest oil depot, shipping about , and during the Cold War gave its name to the 'Gulf of Sidra', an alternative name for the Gulf of Sirte. Sidra ...

where it was seized by rebel gunmen. Flying the flag of

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

the vessel then entered the port of Sidra in early March 2014. North Korea, however, disavowed the ship once it learned that it was under rebel control. Sidra is under the control of an eastern Libyan militia group that under the leadership of

Ibrahim Jathran Ibrahim Jadran ( ar, إبراهيم الجضران; born 1981) is a self imposed Libyan militia leader from Ajdabiya in eastern Libya. Born 1981 in Ajdabiya as the son of Sayyid Jidran, Ibrahim was arrested in February 2005 for organizing an armed ...

defies the central government and aims for greater

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

. At Sidra, the tanker was loaded with 234,000 barrels of state-owned

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

that had been seized by the rebels. The Libyan government intended to prevent the ship from leaving the port on March 11 but failed to establish an effective blockade. As a result, the

Ali Zeidan Ali Zeidan (sometimes written as Zidan; ar, علي زيدان; born 15 December 1950) is a former Prime Minister of Libya. He was appointed by the General National Congress on 14 October 2012, and took office on 14 November after Congress approv ...

government collapsed. Fearing for his safety Zeidan then fled the country. The rebels had planned to sell the oil bypassing the Libyan government, however, the intervention on sea blocked this attempt. The oil tanker was seized by a

U.S. Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy, U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command, Naval Special Wa ...

team and U.S. SWCC from the on March 16, 2014, without bloodshed. The vessel was brought to the port of

Zawiya, Libya Zawiya , officially Zawia ( ar, الزاوية, transliteration: ''Az Zāwiyaẗ'', it, Zauia or ''Zavia'', variants: ar, الزاوية الغربية ''Az Zawiyah Al Gharbiyah'', ''Ḩārat az Zāwiyah'', ''Al Ḩārah'', ''El-Hára'' and '' ...

and handed over to Libyan authorities on March 22, 2014, after being escorted by .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morning Glory 1993 ships Captured ships Maritime incidents in 2014 Oil tankers Ships of Libya