A sanctioned Russian tanker carrying liquefied natural gas is drifting without a crew in the Mediterranean, with a huge hole in one side, prompting warnings of a serious risk of a major environmental disaster.
Italy, one of nine EU countries that sent a joint letter to the European Commission seeking action, described the Arctic Metagaz as an environmental time bomb.
The tanker, part of a shadow fleet transporting sanctioned Russian oil and gas, was badly damaged in a suspected drone attack near Maltese waters earlier this month.
Ukraine has not commented on reports that it was responsible for the attack. The Arctic Metagaz is now drifting south, away from Italian waters and the island of Lampedusa towards Libya, while Italian and Maltese officials continue monitoring its movements.
Speaking to Italy’s Radio 24, Alfredo Mantovano, secretary to Italy’s Council of Ministers, described the risks posed by the tanker as enormous and warned that it could explode at any moment.
It was said to be carrying substantial quantities of liquefied natural gas, or LNG. An official in Rome told the BBC that it also held 450 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 250 tonnes of diesel. On Tuesday afternoon, the tanker was around 83 kilometres from Italian territorial waters and 40 kilometres from the search and rescue zone assigned to Libya.
The Arctic Metagaz left the Russian port of Murmansk in February. When it caught fire in early March, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of a terrorist attack. Ukraine, however, regards Russian shadow-fleet tankers as legitimate targets. They routinely sail with their transponders switched off to evade Western sanctions, while Moscow’s oil and gas revenues help finance its continuing war in Ukraine.
