An Albanian cargo ship ENVI 1, registered under Panaman flag, has been seized by Libyan customs officers on the suspicion of smuggling construction materials out of the country. The crew of eight consists of five Albanians and three Montenegrans, including the captain of the ship.
Libyan media report that the Albanian ambassador in Egypt stated that
the ship is anchored at a port near Tripoli and the condition of sailors and the ship is safe. […] The authorities are proceeding with great speed. We are closely following this situation and the Albanian Foreign Ministry has also intervened.
In an interview with Report TV, Dritan Skora, owner of the ENVI 1 and CEO of the company ENVI & E.E in Durrës, denies that his ship, which was en route from the Libyan port of Zuwara to Malta when it was intercepted off the coast at Zawia. According to Skora the ship was stopped because of illegal migrants that had climbed aboard.
We claim that our ship conforms to every rule and every law. Our company cannot be slandered by saying that our ship was smuggling sand. I do not know how you can smuggle sand when that sand has a value of €12,000. I don’t know. […]
The boat left Durrës and stopped in Malta. It was loaded with 50 tons of petrol, and from Malta in the direction of Zuwara, according to a contract we had with a Maltese and Libyan company. The transport would be sand, fine sand. I have gone to the Customs Police in Durrës harbor, and have made all the declarations. While I was there, one of the crew, called me and told me: “Chief, there are many refugee that climbed onto the boat, the Libyan state have arrived and now they sent the real police, and we are in good health
