'Mayday, Mayday, Mayday': How stricken Russian ship turned to Malta for help

Updated 4.54pm

Malta first became aware of the damaged Russian shadow fleet tanker on Tuesday afternoon, when the vessel's owners contacted local authorities for help, with Malta later issuing a distress call on the ship’s behalf, Times of Malta can reveal.

According to sources, Malta’s armed forces first received a message informing them of the tanker being engulfed in flames at 1.14pm on Tuesday. 

It read: "Mayday Mayday Mayday... Vessel is on fire. Require immediate assistance." 

It included the name of the tanker, Arctic Metagaz, and its co-ordinates, 34-17.6 North 017-04.0  East, roughly three nautical miles outside Malta's Search and Rescue Zone, just inside the border of Libya's area of responsibility. 

Where the ship was when its distress call was issued. The red/orange line marks out Malta's search and rescue area.

By then, the tanker is believed to have been on fire for several hours, with most reports suggesting the alleged attack took place at around 4am on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Libyan port authorities said the incident took place “within the Libyan search-and-rescue zone... approximately 130 nautical miles (240 kilometres) north of the port of Sirte".

By the evening, the tide had pushed the tanker into Malta’s search and rescue zone (SAR).

Although the tanker was outside Malta’s SAR at the time of the distress call, Maltese authorities deployed a King Air surveillance aircraft to the scene, being among the first to reach the damaged tanker.

Two crew members treated for burns

Upon reaching the scene, the AFM issued a mayday distress signal on the ship’s behalf.

At the time, another Russian shadow fleet tanker, Respect, was nearby, carrying crude oil across the Mediterranean. The crew members boarded a tugboat from the Arctic Metagaz and made their way to the Respect. 

The rescued crew members travelled south, eventually disembarking in the vicinity of the Libyan city of Tobruk.

All 30 crew members survived the fire, although two are being treated in a Libyan hospital, having suffered burns.

AFM continue to monitor tanker

Addressing parliament on Wednesday, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said the Armed Forces of Malta are continuing to monitor the wrecked tanker, which as of 1.55pm was drifting 140 nautical miles off Malta. 

In a statement the minister gave the House the timeline of the involvement of the AFM in the search and rescue operation after it was alerted to the case.

He confirmed that the AFM was alerted shortly after 1.10pm on Tuesday - several hours after the tanker is believed to have suffered explosions. The ship was in position  34-17 North 017-04 East - outside Malta's search and rescue zone. 

Malta's Rescue Coordination Centre immediately issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast (UMIB) to shipping. An AFM aircraft located the ship at 3.58pm and detected a lifeboat carrying the crew at 4.52pm. The crew were picked up by a nearby vessel, the MV Respect, which had been 33 nautical miles away. They were taken to Libya. 

The minister confirmed that he and the prime minister briefed the Opposition on Wednesday evening, in the national interest, even though the incident did not occur in the Malta search and rescue region.

Catastrophic damage

Aerial photos taken on Tuesday afternoon, just minutes before the ship’s owners alerted Maltese authorities, show how the tanker had suffered catastrophic damage. The images show the ship’s ruptured gas cell leaving a gaping wound in the ship’s flank and a plume of smoke rising from the tanker.

Russian authorities pinned the blame for the attack on Ukraine, saying it used naval drones to attack the tanker.

When contacted for comment, the Russian Embassy to Malta pointed Times of Malta to a statement issued by the Russian transport ministry, in which it said the tanker had been attacked while carrying cargo from the port of Murmansk in Russia’s northwest.

Questions were sent to Embassy of Ukraine to Malta.

The Arctic Metagaz forms part of Russia’s shadow fleet, a clandestine network of tankers operated by Russia to evade international sanctions.

Marine tracking websites show how the Arctic Metagaz is subject to EU, US and UK sanctions. The vessel was first registered in 2003 under the Norwegian flag, with the name of Berge Everett.

Since then, it has re-flagged and changed name several times, most recently in April 2025, when it changed its name from Metagas Everest to Arctic Metagaz. It now sails under a Russian flag, having previously flown the flags of Singapore, Liberia and Palau.