Libyan authorities tow drifting Russian tanker away from coast

Libyan authorities are towing the Russian shadow fleet tanker Arctic Metagaz away from the Libyan coast, after taking control of the drifting vessel.

On Tuesday, Libyan authorities took control of the tanker, having previously announced that its National Oil Corporation (NOC) would be collaborating with Italian energy company Eni to salvage the vessel.

Footage from Libyan media on Tuesday showed the tanker under tow, bringing an end to its aimless drifting over the past three weeks.

However, in a statement, NOC said it would not be towing the tanker towards one of its ports, instead implementing the first phase of its plan “to gain control of the tanker and move it away from the coast”.

NOC was using several tugboats “to tow the tanker away from the Libyan shores and oil platforms.”

As the tanker was drifting towards Libya over the past week, sources told Times of Malta that concerns were growing over the risk of the vessel hitting one of the several oil rigs dotted around Libya’s coast.

These include the Bouri oil field, considered the largest oil reservoir of its kind in the Mediterranean, and the Al-Jurf oil field off Tripoli’s coast.

The tanker is believed to have been carrying as much as 60,000 tonnes of liquid gas and hundreds of tonnes of oil as it drifted across the Mediterranean.

NOC said it had set up a specialised committee to tackle the “crisis” with the intention “to take the necessary preventive and precautionary measures to limit any potential environmental damage and protect the Libyan coast”.

“The current situation is that there are no leaks from the cargo so far; the environmental situation is completely safe, and there are no indicators of any imminent risks,” NOC said.

It remains unclear whether Libyan authorities plan to dock the vessel at any point, having now stopped its uncontrolled drift.

The tanker has been drifting unmanned after its 30 crew members fled the burning ship on a lifeboat after an alleged attack in early March. Two of the crew members were later treated for burns in a Libyan hospital.

The lifeboat was later intercepted by Maltese authorities after it drifted into Malta’s territorial waters.

Russian authorities have blamed Ukraine for the attack. Ukraine has yet to publicly comment on the case.

The tanker caused alarm among Maltese and Italian officials over much of the past three weeks, as it drifted in the waters between Malta and Lampedusa.

Both Maltese and Italian governments said they had put plans in place to tackle the situation should the vessel come closer to their shores.

However, they were given a reprieve, with prevailing winds gradually pushing the vessel towards Libya’s coast.