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Asharq Al-Awsat wrote:
The Lebanese Judicial Power investigates a ship loaded with petroleum derivatives that arrived off the Lebanese coast, and its maritime agent pursues it to find out the conditions of arrival of the ship, which is suspected of being prepared to violate the sanctions imposed on the Syrian regime.
A ship loaded with benzene entered Lebanese waters from Greece and did not arrive at the request of any official or private company. After it was anchored off the oil facilities in the Zahrani region, the General Directorate of Petroleum in Lebanon confirmed that it was unaware of the ship and did not know its origin. She explained that “the importation of petroleum derivatives for the benefit of the facilities is based on tenders carried out by a competent committee with an official mandate in accordance with the regulations, so the ship is now under investigation by the competent authorities.”
The ship, which departed from an oil refinery in Greece, loaded with about 4 million liters of benzene (2,750 tons) and, after entering Lebanese territorial waters, traveled 26 nautical miles from Zahrani to Tripoli before returning to the coast of Zahrani. Now, the Lebanese customs administration detains her and imposes a guard on her to prevent her movement.
Informed Lebanese sources told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that the shipment on board the ship belonged to the Syrian company “Al-Naam”, which is located in Harasta, Damascus, noting that the ship “is prohibited from entering Lebanese ports. if the objective is to violate the sanctions against Syria and the Caesar Law. ” »Imposed by the United States on the Syrian regime and its collaborators.
The sources indicated that the file became in the custody of the Southern Prosecutor, Judge Raheef Ramadan, and the Lebanese Judicial Power is investigating the maritime agent to summon and listen to him, and to learn information about the ship, including its destination and any port that he intended to dock to unload his cargo.
The shipping agent is responsible for the ship from the moment it enters territorial waters until its anchorage in any Lebanese port, and presents papers that include the type of its cargo at the time it arrives in territorial waters, and then it is sent a guide to direct you to whatever port you disembark at. The shipowner will bear all the costs of the ship, including the cost of the pilot who will direct it to the berth where it will anchor, and must be the holder of a power of attorney from the company that owns the ship.
Also, according to the procedures, the consignee’s responsibility ends when he delivers the papers to the Lebanese authorities, so that responsibility passes to the customs broker who delivers the documents to customs and is responsible for paying the unloading and shipping costs. and transportation of the merchandise loaded in them to Lebanese territory. And if, after inspection by customs, it seems that your cargo is not in accordance with the papers, the responsibility of the sender, the customs agent, the company that owns the ship and the person who is supposed to receive the merchandise, assumes responsibility .
The sources explained to Al-Sharq al-Awsat that “the Lebanese judiciary is pursuing the shipping agent to find out the destination of the ship and the reasons for its bound for Lebanon, if that was its first trip to Lebanon, and to ensure the conditions of its arrival and if there are local parties that import the shipment or facilitate its access to regional waters. Lebanese ».
He added: “There were demands to divert the ship’s destination to Turkey at the request of the shipping agent, but the Lebanese judiciary did not agree to prevent Lebanon from being subject to sanctions, and it is now seized by the customs administration in exchange for the oil facilities. in Zahrani until the end of the investigation. ” He noted that “Lebanon, once the investigations are completed, will return the cargo to Greece, avoid sanctions and will not allow its entry, because that would be considered an circumvention of the Caesar Law.”
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