Oil tanker Neverland (IMO 9247390) has reappeared off the coast of Malta, having gone “off radar” near Canada on June 30th, when it was under charter by oil trader Vitol carrying Iraqi Kurdish crude oil, reports Reuters.
Neverland had been heading to eastern Canada to discharge its 721,915 barrel cargo when, at the request of the Iraq Oil ministry, the Canadian federal court ordered the seizure of the cargo (IMN, July 10th 2017).
Iraq claimed that the cargo was unlawfully misappropriated by the Kurdistan Regional Government and sold to commodity trading house Vitol SA to be loaded onto the Neverland. The Iraq Oil Ministry has also filed a claim against Vitol and subsidiaries, including Mansel Ltd, the charterer of the ship, and affiliate Finaval SpA di Navigazione, the owner of the ship, for $32.5m. The tanker now appears to be empty.
2003-built, Italy-flagged, 56,346 gt Neverland is owned and managed by Finaval Spa of Castelnovo di Sotto, Italy, and is entered with Standard Club on behalf of Finaval SpA.