rome, italy
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Maritime authorities have warned sailors to stay away from an unmanned Russian fuel tanker that has been drifting between Italy and Malta for days after being attacked by drones, raising fears of an environmental disaster.
Surveillance video taken from aboard the ship shows the smoldering, blackened vessel leaning to one side, with a large gash in its port side and a film of material in the surrounding waters.
Italian authorities said the Russian-flagged Arctic Metagas was carrying around 900 tonnes (992 US tonnes) of diesel fuel and more than 60,000 tonnes (66,000 US tonnes) of liquefied natural gas in its intact hull.
The ship is said to be part of Moscow’s so-called “shadow fleet” of aging tankers secretly transporting Russian oil around the world despite sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The 277-metre (909-foot) ship left the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk and was headed for Egypt, according to the website Vessel Finder.
However, in the early hours of March 3, in neutral waters in the central Mediterranean, about 168 nautical miles southeast of Malta, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement on March 11 that it was “attacked by maritime and aerial drones.”
Thirty crew members, some of whom suffered burns, abandoned the ship after the fire broke out. They were rescued from a lifeboat and taken to Benghazi by the Libyan coast guard in cooperation with the Russian embassy in Libya, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. He called the alleged attack on the merchant ship a “terrorist act.”
According to Reuters, Russia’s Ministry of Transport said the attack was caused by a Ukrainian Navy drone. Ukraine has not commented on the incident.
Zakharova called the incident “a serious violation of international law that could have serious consequences.”
“It is noteworthy that this attack occurred very close to the coast of an EU member state, but so far no European country has condemned the incident,” she said.
Italian naval authorities said the incident occurred in international waters, but the Italian government is increasingly concerned that changing winds could bring the ship closer to Italian territory.
The two leaders addressed the situation during a special meeting on Friday with the ministers of defence, foreign affairs, energy, maritime affairs and civil protection, as well as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The group advised Meloni that the ship could not be safely docked at an Italian port, calling it a “gas-filled time bomb,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson who attended the meeting told CNN.
It is believed that there is no one left on the tanker, which has lost all power and maneuvering control. Meloni said in a statement after the meeting that his government was “in constant contact” with the Maltese authorities and that both countries were monitoring the situation.
Both Italy and Malta have sent tugboats and anti-pollution facilities and are ready to intervene if necessary. On Sunday, the ship drifted about 20 nautical miles off the coast of Linosa, Sicily, which is part of an archipelago that includes Lampedusa.
The Russian shipowner LLC SMP Techmanagement is ultimately responsible for the salvage, but neither Italian nor Maltese authorities have confirmed any contact with the group. CNN has attempted to contact the owner.
According to Malta Today, Maltese authorities have commissioned a specialized sea rescue team to determine whether the tanker can be towed safely to port or should be sunk at sea. The Italian coast guard declined to confirm to CNN whether it was part of a plan to tow the vessel deeper offshore.
Global conservation organization World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has warned of potential threats to the environment, especially if the tanker sinks with an “extremely dangerous” cargo on board.
“A potential spill could cause wildfires, extremely cold clouds deadly to marine wildlife, and large-scale, long-term water and air pollution,” the group said in a statement Friday.
The group said the area the ship is currently adrift in is home to almost every protected marine species found in the Mediterranean, and is frequented by bluefin tuna and swordfish.
“The area is of exceptional ecological value, with fragile deep ecosystems and one of the most biodiverse areas in the Mediterranean Basin,” the group warned. “The environmental risks are therefore very high and potentially irreversible, with serious implications for the Pelagie Islands economy, which is based on fishing and tourism.”
When the ship was rammed, Libyan port authorities incorrectly reported to Mediterranean maritime authorities that it had sunk following a “sudden explosion and subsequent heavy fire,” Italian naval officials told Italy’s special commission.
Days later, Maltese authorities spotted the ship and notified Italy, and both countries warned anyone at sea to stay at least five nautical miles from the ship.
