Canada orders seizure of oil tanker carrying crude from Iraqi Kurdistan

The Federal Court of Canada has ordered the seizure of a 721,915-barrel cargo of crude from Kurdistan aboard the "Neverland" oil tanker on the request of the Iraq Oil Ministry, court documents show.

The Iraq Oil Ministry has also filed a claim against commodity trading house Vitol S.A. and subsidiaries including Mansel Ltd, the charterer of the ship, and affiliate Finaval Spa di Navigazione, the owner of the ship, for $32.5 million.

Iraq claims the cargo was unlawfully misappropriated by the Kurdistan Regional Government and sold to Vitol to be loaded onto the "Neverland."

(Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)