Libyan port disruption continues
Strike action forces tanker to divert as PFG continues to demand unpaid wages.
The suezmax, Delta Eurydice, has been forced to divert from Libya’s Marsa el-Hariga terminal because of continuing strike action, reports Dryad Global. Ongoing industrial action at the port has halted oil exports for the last two weeks.
The Delta Eurydice was originally bound for Marsa el-Hariga but tracking and data agency, Vortexa, says it has changed course for Es Sider and should arrive tomorrow. The suezmax is one of three tankers scheduled to load crude at Marsa el-Hariga since the strike by Petroleum Facilities Guards (PFG) started last month.
The dispute over unpaid wages has disrupted port operations several times in recent weeks and shipping sources say the Front Cruiser may have also postponed its scheduled port call at Marsa el-Hariga and is holding station near the terminal. The Malibu is also waiting outside the terminal.
The PFG is employed to protect Libya’s oil assets and infrastructure and has staged industrial action at the ports of Ras Lanuf and Es Sider, as well as Marsa el-Hariga — with the first commencing on 24th January. The guards said their field allowance — which tops up their salaries — had not been paid for most of last year.
The Government of National Accord in Tripoli said it has pledged to pay the outstanding wages at Marsa, but a contingent of the PFG at the port was not convinced by the promise and had gone ahead with the strike.
Tracking shows no crude has been exported from Marsa since the suezmax Delta Sky left the port on 21st January, carrying 1mn bl of Sarir/Mesla, bound for Dalian in China. According to Argus, the benchmarks provider, a total of five 1mn bl cargoes had been scheduled to leave the port this month.
As the situation stands, guards at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf are not currently on strike, even though a deadline set by the PFG for the GNA to respond to demands has expired. Strikes have been a regular feature in the Libyan oil industry and Argus estimate that Libyan crude output averaged 1.16mn b/d last month, while exports reached 971,000 b/d.
