Libya has prevented a crude tanker from loading at the port of Mellitah because the vessel recently called at Israel, shipping sources told Argus.
Libya does not recognise Israel and has regulations in place that ban vessels from docking if Israel is among their last 10 ports of call, sources said. Authorities have decided to enforce the law more stringently amid a growing backlash in Libya against Israel's military operation in Gaza, they added.
Shipping fixture lists show Spanish firm Repsol chartered the Proteus Philippa tanker to load 600,000 bl of Mellitah blend crude on 13-15 November for transport to Tarragona in Spain, where it has a 180,000 b/d refinery. But the vessel has been prevented from leaving as authorities investigate, sources said.
The Proteus Philippa unloaded 800,000 bl of Gabonese Rabi crude at Israel's Haifa port on 1 October, according to Vortexa. A shipping agent told Argus that Repsol has now chartered a replacement tanker, Dino, to take the 600,000 bl Libyan cargo.
Neither Repsol nor Libya's state-owned oil firm NOC have responded to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, a Turkish-owned general cargo vessel, Nurdogan, was prevented from unloading at Libya's Misrata port this week after it called at Israel in August. The vessel will be fined and added to a blacklist, shipping sources said.
Stricter enforcement of existing Libyan rules could increase freight costs for voyages to Israel and Libya as charterers would have a smaller pool of ships to choose from.
