Russian tanker continues drifting towards Libya

The stricken Russian shadow fleet tanker Arctic Metagaz has continued drifting away from Malta towards Libya, and is now over 100 nautical miles from Malta’s shores.

Sources told Times of Malta the tanker remains in international waters, outside any country’s territory or area of responsibility.

The tanker is expected to continue drifting in Libya’s direction over the coming days, although this could change if the wind shifts.

The tanker is now believed to be outside Malta’s search and rescue zone, though sources say this is only a marginal concern.

Search and rescue zones place obligations on countries to coordinate rescues at sea. Given that nobody is on board the tanker, after the vessel’s 30 crew members fled shortly after the blast, search and rescue obligations do not apply in this situation, sources say.

However, the situation could change if the vessel enters any country’s territorial waters, with different legal obligations coming into play.

Maltese authorities were first notified of the vessel on the afternoon of March 3, when the tanker was 150 nautical miles to Malta’s south-east, just inside Libya’s search and rescue zone.

Since then, it has continued to drift aimlessly across the Mediterranean. It had drifted closer to Maltese waters last week, initially sparking fears that it could enter Maltese territory, before drifting towards Lampedusa and, later, Libya.

The tanker is believed to be carrying roughly 60,000 tonnes of gas and hundreds of tonnes of fuel on board, putting the vessel at risk of further explosions. Sources have described the situation as “very dangerous”, with the tanker posing a threat to other vessels and marine wildlife in the region.

On Monday, the Department of Fisheries warned fishers to steer clear of the vessel, echoing a similar warning issued by Transport Malta’s Ports and Yachting Directorate days earlier.

On the same day, Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg raised the issue at an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting, as Malta turned to international support to resolve the impasse. Maltese authorities are arguing that the issue is primarily a regional security issue, rather than one to be dealt with by any single country.

According to Robert Abela, attempts to find a solution with Russian authorities and the tanker’s owners failed to yield results.

Last week, Italian authorities held an emergency summit, attended by several top government officials, to discuss the situation. Following the summit, Italian authorities said they would continue monitoring the situation together with their Maltese counterparts.

Meanwhile, Maltese authorities have said they have put a contingency plan in place, should the need to intervene arise.