A Libyan military spokesman confirmed that the Libyan army bombed a “suspicious” tanker ship in the port of Derna, killing a 29 year old Greek sailor, one Romanian and injuring two other crew members.

“A suspicious ship was bombarded on Sunday by the Libyan Air Force”, said a Libyan colonel, adding that the ship did not obey the orders to interrupt its voyage to be investigated, before entering the harbor.

Overall, the ship contains 26 crew members of whom three are Greeks, two Romanian and 21 Filipinos.

Greece condemns the unprovoked and cowardly air strike against Greek-interests tanker “Araevo”, in the strongest way.

The ship, according to information from the shipping company, was chartered by Libyan state company “National Oil Corporation” (NOC) and had been performing its route for many years without a hitch.

This criminal act caused the death of two crew members, and the injury of two more.

Greek authorities in consultation with the shipping company are doing everything they can to facilitate the immediate repatriation of the remains of the Greek sailor.

The Greek government will take all necessary steps towards Libyan authorities, despite the situation, to allow for an investigation into the circumstances of the tragic event, the identification and punishment of the perpetrators of the attack, and payment of compensation to the families of ictims.