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Italy, France and other EU members have warned that a Russian liquefied natural gas tanker that was set ablaze in the Mediterranean earlier this month poses “an imminent and serious risk of major ecological disaster”.
The Russian-flagged Arctic Metagaz, which is suspected of having been targeted by a Ukrainian attack involving unmanned sea drones off Libya, is in a “precarious condition” in “the heart of the union’s maritime space”, a letter from nine EU members said.
The letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged the commission to co-ordinate swift collective action to mitigate the hazard, as the fire-damaged tanker drifts in the Mediterranean between Malta and Italy’s southern island of Lampedusa.
“Beyond the immediate maritime safety and environmental concerns, this situation raises serious concerns from a sanctions enforcement perspective,” the letter said as it called for more co-ordinated efforts to crack down on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.
Moscow has blamed Kyiv for the attack on the ship, with Russian President Vladimir Putin describing it on television as a “terrorist attack”. The Ukrainian government has not claimed responsibility, but has in the past targeted other Russian vessels.
Ukraine’s security service and military intelligence agency did not answer a request for comment.
Ukraine’s security service (SBU) has been expanding its reach beyond targeting vessels in the Black Sea. In December, it claimed responsibility for an attack on an oil tanker, the Qendil, in the Mediterranean.
Sources within the SBU’s Alpha unit told the FT that the attack on the Qendil had been carried out by aerial drones but that the tanker was empty at the time, “so did not pose any environmental threat in the region”.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Monday that Moscow, and the ship’s unidentified owner, are closely monitoring the damaged vessel, which authorities said was carrying 450 tonnes of heavy fuel, 250 tonnes of diesel and a “substantial amount” of LNG at the time it was attacked on or around March 3.
“Explosions are audible on board; gas leaks have been detected, the lilt has increased and localised fires are visible,” the Russian government statement said.
But Moscow asserted that it was up to the affected coastal states to deal with it, arguing that international legal provisions “assign responsibility to coastal states”. It added that those countries were therefore responsible “for resolving the issue of the drifting vessel”.
Italy’s civil protection department has downplayed the Russian vessel’s threat to the Italian coasts, with a spokesperson on Tuesday noting that it has moved away from Malta and is now heading south towards Libya.
“Sea and weather conditions are challenging, making it difficult to approach the vessel,” an Italian civil protection official said, adding “there is no evidence of fuel or gas leakage from the ship”.
In their joint letter to Brussels, the leaders of the nine Mediterranean EU states said the Metagaz case highlighted the need for more co-ordinated action to crack down on Russian vessels trying to evade economic sanctions in or near European waters.
“This case — and the associated risks posed to our waters, highlights the need for swift, co-ordinated and visible European response as a matter of utmost priority,” the letter said, noting that the signatories would raise the topics at an upcoming European Council meeting.
Russia’s so-called shadow fleet uses deceptive methods — such as GPS spoofing or false-flag activities — to disguise the whereabouts of ships to deliver large volumes of Russian oil and LNG, usually to Asian countries each month.
Many of these vessels, which appear on UK, EU and US sanctions lists, have opaque ownership structures and are in poor condition, unable to call at western ports for maintenance due to sanctions regimes.
Additional reporting by Giuliana Ricozzi in Rome
