Libya – Port Situation

As Members may already be aware from various press reports, the fighting between militias has been intensifying, with Tripoli airport closed after being attacked by rockets earlier this week.

The Club has received the below information on port conditions from the correspondent in Tripoli, Germa Shipping & Stevedoring Co:

1. All oil terminals/ports,including Zawia, are working. The only exception is Brega oil terminal which is currently on strike until further notice;

2. At the moment, the commercial ports of Benghazi, Tobruk, Misurata and Alkhoms are operating normally;

3. The fighting between militias continues in Tripoli and Benghazi. Whilst it is possible for vessels to call at Tripoli, loading and/or discharging operations are highly unlikely to take place due to the unavailability of labour/stevedores.

Given the volatile situation, Members calling at Libya should carefully assess their contractual obligations and remedies in light of the current ongoing instability. Further, Members considering fixing vessels to call in Libya should give due consideration to contractual measures that might be taken to try to avoid and/or negate future issues arising out of such instability. Members are also reminded that Libya is still subject to financial sanctions by the UK, EU, US and UN, including the recent UN ban on illicit crude oil exports from Libya and authorising inspection of suspect ships on high seas (to access the UN press release of March 2014 click here). Members should therefore continue to exercise due diligence when engaging in activities with Libyan entities and/or connections.