Italy and Libya reopen marine transportation

Italy and Libya on Sunday resumed bilateral marine transportation of cargoes and passengers in a bid to boost bilateral ties, Chinese news agency "Xinhua" reported.

A Libyan ship "Toletela" arrived on Sunday in Catania on the island of Sicily from the Libyan port city of Tripoli, and returned the same day evening to Libya.

Two ships of General National Maritime Transport Co. of Libya will serve the line between Tripoli, Libyan capital and Catania.

Each ship has a cargo capacity of 6,000 tons with a maximum of 768 passengers.

Sea traffic between the two countries had been cut off in the wake of sanctions imposed on Libya by the United Nations in 1992 due to the Lockerbie plane explosion incident.

Italy and Libya signed an accord on July 9 to normalize relations between the two countries. The accord eased bilateral links.