On 12 September, Albanian police reportedly intercepted and seized a tanker, the Queen Majeda, containing about 2,275 tons of smuggled diesel at Durres port, Albania. Albanian authorities reported that the investigation of the ship has been ongoing for several months and that a total of ten people – nine of whom (including the vessel’s captain Zuhair Alkuafi) were Libyan nationals, and one of whom was Syrian – were arrested. According to shipping trackers, the Queen Majeda departed Benghazi port on 8 September, having been in port for nine days (arriving on 29 August). Prior to this, the Queen Majeda had been in Romano port (Albania) 23 – 25 August and Benghazi port 31 July – 18 August. The Queen Majeda is understood to be owned by Eldawadi Shipping Ltd, headquartered in Istanbul with a regional representative office in Tripoli. There are conflicting reports on the flag nation of the vessel (with shipping trackers indicating the vessel is registered in Cameroon, while Eldawadi claiming it is registered in Libya), as well as the value of the smuggled diesel (with some reports indicating $1.1 million USD and others up to $2.2 million USD).
