Read on Twitter
• Did France physically intercept JAL LAXMI in May?
• How does this factor into discussions over @EUNAVFOR_MED Irini, #France / #Trukey crisis, CIRKIN etc.
• Sparked by interesting discussion between O.Bel, W.Lacher, U.Speck & J.Harchaoui #Libya
https://twitter.com/OlivierR_Bel/status/1284156186183573504?s=20
• How does this factor into discussions over @EUNAVFOR_MED Irini, #France / #Trukey crisis, CIRKIN etc.
• Sparked by interesting discussion between O.Bel, W.Lacher, U.Speck & J.Harchaoui #Libya
https://twitter.com/OlivierR_Bel/status/1284156186183573504?s=20
Gabon-flagged 7,849 DWT, [110m LOA] oil/chemical tanker JAL LAXMI (IMO: 9213222) arrived off Tobruk from Hamriyah, UAE, on 22 May, intending to export a cargo of HFO from Hariga terminal without the oversight of NOC Tripoli, in breach of UNSCR 2362. https://twitter.com/Libya_OSINT/status/1265038656634597376?s=20
The tanker’s registered owner, since March 2020, is New Stage Shipping Pte Ltd, founded 2019 with an address in Raffles Quay, Singapore. This company has only ever owned/operated one vessel; JAL LAXMI. Outfit was likely prepared as a shell company to avoid sanctions impact.
@benoitfaucon & @IanTalley say the vessel is 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 owned by Dubai's CPC Corp; a manager there conveyed the tanker was rented to a “third party”. The vessel was chartered by Dubai's Emo Investment Trading and Marketing of Oil and Derivatives LLC. https://www.wsj.com/articles/libyan-warlords-oil-foray-draws-u-s-u-n-scrutiny-11591206614
In Nov 2019, Emo signed a 10-yr fuel distribution deal with Haftar’s Military Investment Authority (MIA). @SameralAtrush & @david_wainer citing ‘diplomats’, also said the shipment was “part of a sale of refined products to a company registered in the UAE”. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-28/libya-destined-oil-tanker-on-uae-contract-stopped-by-french-navy
The shipment was coordinated by the eastern BPMC and the parallel NOC Benghazi.
Side Note: To my knowledge, NOC Benghazi since lined up another export (naphtha) without NOC Tripoli approval in June, to clear storage tanks at Brega. But has not happened. https://twitter.com/Libya_OSINT/status/1282068356703682560?s=20
Side Note: To my knowledge, NOC Benghazi since lined up another export (naphtha) without NOC Tripoli approval in June, to clear storage tanks at Brega. But has not happened. https://twitter.com/Libya_OSINT/status/1282068356703682560?s=20
On or around 22 May, French Cassard-class anti-air frigate JEAN BART (D615) [139m LOA], operating under the mandate of EUNAVFOR MED Op Irini, “blocked”, “prevented”, “intercepted”, “threatened”, “warned”, “hailed” JAL LAXMI, depending on what you read. https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/5/29/france-intercepts-tanker-bound-for-libya
This has become a point of debate between experts discussing Op Irini amidst allegations of operational and French bias. Some downplay France’s role in blocking the export, arguing instead it was more about wider diplomatic/US/UN pressure; this has legs. https://twitter.com/W_Lacher/status/1284195432919334914?s=20
To ‘hail’ the JAL LAXMI over VHF radio, JEAN BART could have been 60nm away and just going through the motions in a laissez-faire manner to keep the critics off their backs. Did the French / Irini role even matter? 
imagery holds clues:
imagery holds clues:
On 22 May at 0911 UTC / 1111 LT, JAL LAXMI is visible on Sentinel-2 satellite imagery 25nm NE of Hariga terminal. Despite heavy cloud cover and hazy imagery, an approx. 136m grey military type vessel is drifting 3.7nm WbS of the tanker that fits the profile of JEAN BART.
This satellite imagery strongly suggests that the JEAN BART physically blocked the JAL LAXMI’s intent to lift oil at Hariga, positioning itself between the tanker and the terminal.
JAL LAXMI would subsequently slow steam further offshore during 23-25 May. AIS: @maritrace_
JAL LAXMI would subsequently slow steam further offshore during 23-25 May. AIS: @maritrace_
Did JEAN BART then leave the AO? Possibly not. Although inconclusive, Sentinel-1 on 24 May shows two vessels 11nm apart in the location JAL LAXMI pinged AIS on that date. It is very plausible that the French frigate remained in the AO until JAL LAXMI ‘retreated’ to 
waters.
waters.
On 25 May, two vessels can also be seen co-located 11.8nm apart on Sentinel-1 in the location where JAL LAXMI should have been on that date and time. Again, one cannot confidently say if the other vessel was JEAN BART.
Regardless, the more credible analysis above from 22 May strongly suggests that #France, under the mandate of Op Irini, took an active, tactical role in helping to prevent the shipment, albeit amid a broader diplomatic push by other int. states and bodies.
Many conflate Irini’s activities with French FP; there are of course overlapping lines of interest, but I don’t completely buy into that line of thinking. Irini is a multi-nation EU mil Op 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑𝑙𝑦 monitoring ALL maritime, land and air breaches to the embargo.
Irini’s maritime operational focus that penalised Turkey over UAE et al has somewhat evaporated since Watiya AB became operational, and since Ankara used its navy to continue to force through its maritime shipments. https://twitter.com/YorukIsik/status/1283639705683349506?s=20
If Irini can’t stop arms embargo breaches and won’t publicly condemn those it documents, then it does raise questions about the operation’s raison d'être. Irini may well pipe logged breaches to the UN Panel of Experts for this year’s report, so there's room for cautious optimism.
Ref. the CIRKIN French/Turkish naval standoff. Did the French frigate COURBET, operating under NATO Sea Guardian, unnecessarily provoke Turkey after Greek Op Irini and Italian Op Sea Guardian already tried and failed to prevent the shipment? Yes. http://www.bruxelles2.eu/2020/07/retour-sur-lincident-naval-turco-francais-une-certaine-volonte-de-provoquer/
Was Turkey’s response by ‘lighting up’ the COURBET an unnecessarily aggressive response to a NATO partner, especially considering it was flagrantly breaching the UN arms embargo at the time? Yes. Neither country was in the right.
END | Hopefully the sat imagery from 22 May provides some more grounding for how the JAL LAXMI case is interpreted in the context of Irini discussions. #Libya
