US Seals take control of rogue North Korea-flagged oil tanker in Libya

US Navy Seals boarded and took control of an oil tanker yesterday that had loaded crude at a rebel-held port in eastern Libya and escaped to sea, the Pentagon said.

No one was hurt "when US forces, at the request of both the Libyan and Cypriot governments, boarded and took control of the commercial tanker Morning Glory, a stateless vessel seized earlier this month by three armed Libyans", Pentagon press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said.

The operation was conducted in the early hours of yesterday in international waters southeast of Cyprus.

The Seals operated from the USS Roosevelt, a guided missile destroyer that provided helicopter support, while sailors from another destroyer, the USS Stout, boarded the tanker and prepared to sail it to an unnamed port in Libya.

The Morning Glory last week slipped through a Libyan naval blockade off the eastern port of al-Sidra - controlled by rebels seeking autonomy from Tripoli - after reportedly being loaded with 234,000 barrels of crude.

Libya's interim government confirmed the takeover of the ship and thanked "particularly the United States and the Republic of Cyprus".