ROME: A Russian tanker that was badly damaged in an attack in the Mediterranean last week is drifting without crew toward the Libyan coast, Italy’s civil protection service said on Friday.
Russia has accused Ukraine of trying to blow up the Arctic Metagaz, which was carrying a consignment of liquified natural gas (LNG) from Russia to Egypt when it was hit on March 3.
Italian officials said there was no sign that the fuel used to power the tanker had leaked, but they were unable to comment on the fate of the gas consignment.
The ship, whose 30 crew abandoned it, faced US and European Union sanctions as a suspected part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” of vessels carrying Russian oil and gas in contravention of international sanctions.
Ukraine has not commented on the case but Italian authorities are among Mediterranean nations nervously watching the ship’s movements. Salvage experts have been waiting in Malta.
