Exclusive: Gaddafi dodges fuel sanctions via Tunisia

>LONDON (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's government is circumventing international sanctions to import gasoline to western Libya by using intermediaries who transfer the fuel between ships in Tunisia. U.N. diplomats in New York said they suspected Gaddafi's attempts to import gasoline might constitute a violation of U.N. Security Council sanctions banning any transactions with Libya's state-owned National Oil Corp (NOC).One intermediary company, Hong Kong-based Champlink, previously unknown to the oil trading community, has sought a transaction for fuel delivery into Libya, and European oil traders said they had been approached by other such firms."Gaddafi's people are looking to buy gasoline, via (Tunisian port) La Skhira... and Champlink.

">LONDON (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's government is circumventing international sanctions to import gasoline to western Libya by using intermediaries who transfer the fuel between ships in Tunisia"They ship-to-ship at La Skhira," said a source with direct knowledge of the situation.In a fax, obtained by Reuters, Champlink approached trading firms with an "urgent" request stating, "we have been appointed as procurers for end user in Libya and looking for ready shipments for gasoline."The fax proposed either shipping directly to the western Libyan port of Zawiyah, near the capital Tripoli, or to Tunisia's La Skhira, to be transferred onto a waiting tanker.The fax, dated April 1, requests fortnightly 25,000-tonne shipments of gasoline for the next six months, highlighting the possibility of "tanker-to-tanker transfer."It said neither the cargo nor the end user company is on any international sanctions list.Champlink's Bhagoo Hathey, whose signature is on the fax, confirmed in an email to Reuters last week that a shipment of 40,000 tonnes arrived at La Skhira earlier this month, but did not name the supplier or say whether or not the gasoline had been shipped on to Libya.In a later email he denied receiving any shipment at La Skhira.In a separate document seen by Reuters, a company called Afrimar Tunisia, which is part of Afrimar Group North Africa, sent a request on April 12 to shippers for a vessel with capacity to carry 40,000 tonnes of gasoline loading from Turkey to La Skhira for ship-to-ship transfer there.The firm -- whose website www.afrimar.com shows it has a branch in Tripoli -- said it had two additional cargoes available from the end of April at two week intervals for which it needed to charter vessels.Afrimar did not respond to an email enquiry and was not available for comment on Wednesday.It is not known whether or not any shipments handled by Afrimar have reached Libya.The United States, the United Nations and European Union imposed sanctions on the Libyan government and selected Libyan companies, including NOC, in late February and in March. It is not illegal for Libya to export or import oil or gasoline, but it is illegal to trade with NOC. 1 2 3 Next United Nations Tunisia Libya Regulatory News Tweet this Share this Link this Digg this Email Reprints