The European Union's Operation IRINI said in a monthly report for December 2023 that it continued to investigate vessels and conduct operations in support of the UN arms embargo on Libya, indicating that it investigated 116 merchant vessels via radio calls (out of 12,606), boarded and inspected four suspect vessels with Masters' consent (out of 597), monitored 26 suspect flights (out of 1336), and continued to monitor 25 airports and 16 ports, as well as oil terminals.
"The Operation boarded and inspected 26 suspect vessels, seized three cargos assessed to be in violation of the UN arms embargo and diverted the vessels to a port of an EU Member State, provided 49 special reports to the UN Panel of Expert on Libya (Most of these referred to violations or possible violations of the arms embargo and oil smuggling activities in the west and in the east of the country), and issued 83 recommendations for inspection of suspect vessels in EU Member States' ports to the relevant Law Enforcement agencies, of which 65 were conducted." The report said.
Operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI was launched on 31 March 2020 by the EU (to replace Operating Sophia) to implement the UN arms embargo on Libya. IRINI says it is part of the European integrated approach to Libya, which includes political, military, economic and humanitarian efforts to bring stability and security to the country.
IRINI aims to impose an embargo on the supply of weapons to Libya in implementation of UN Resolution No. 2292 of 2016 in this regard, in addition to thwarting human traffickers and Libyan oil smuggling networks, as well as carrying out training tasks for the Libyan Coast Guard and Navy.
