Italy emergency summit over tanker drifting near Malta with '900 tons of fuel'
Destroyed vessel is around 50 nautical miles off Malta, 'very dangerous' situation
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni held an emergency summit with her government officials on Friday over the damaged Russian gas tanker currently drifting between Italy and Malta, as fears grow that it is carrying 900 tonnes of diesel and two tanks of gas on board.
According to RAI, several of the Italian government’s top officials, including foreign minister Antonio Tajani, defence minister Guido Crosetto and environment minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin attended Friday’s meeting.
In a statement following the meeting, the Italian authorities said they are monitoring the situation with the Maltese authorities, despite the Arctic Metagaz vessel still being within Malta’s search-and-rescue zone.
Sources told Times of Malta that the tanker was drifting west of Malta in recent days. By Friday afternoon, it was 50 nautical miles (93 kilometres) from Malta’s western coast and 30 nautical miles (56 kilometres) from the Italian island of Linosa, just north of Lampedusa.
Lampedusa and Linosa mayor Filippo Mannino told RAI the prevailing wind is currently carrying the tanker in Malta’s direction.
The tanker’s current location indicates that it has moved slightly closer to Malta since Transport Malta issued its coordinates in a notice to mariners on Thursday.
Sources described the situation to Times of Malta as “very dangerous,” with a cloud of gas surrounding the ship indicating that there is a gas leak on board, most likely from one of the remaining LNG tanks.
The tanker is believed to still be experiencing small fires and occasional explosions on board, as it drifts across the Mediterranean. The tanker is believed to have come as close as 22 nautical miles from Malta’s shore earlier in the week.
Fears are also growing about the potential environmental repercussions should the tanker’s cargo spill into the sea, with potentially devastating effects on marine life in the region.
The WWF said it is monitoring the situation with "maximum alert". A potential cargo spill, it said, "could cause fires, cryogenic clouds lethal to marine fauna, and widespread and long-lasting pollution of waters and the atmosphere."
Maltese authorities were first alerted to the tanker on March 4, when it was 150 nautical miles off Malta’s south-east coast, just inside Libyan waters.
The tanker is believed to have been attacked by a drone as it carried large quantities of gas across the Mediterranean.
Russian authorities have blamed Ukraine for the attack in which none of the 30 crew members were injured.
The crew was rescued by another Russian shadow fleet tanker that happened to be navigating nearby and carried to Libya, where two crew members were treated for burns.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Robert Abela said Malta had developed a “contingency plan” and was ready to act, if necessary.