The yellow

Russian LNG tanker Arctic Metagaz adrift: environmental risk in the central Mediterranean Sea

There are an estimated 700 tonnes of fuel plus liquefied gas on board the ship

16 March 2026aggiornato il 18 marzo 2026 ore 10:30

Una veduta aerea del 3 marzo 2026, ripostata su X da OSINTdefender, della petroliera russa "Arctic Metagaz". L'immagine mostra il grande buco nello scafo bruciato della nave dopo essere stata presa di mira da un drone navale non identificato vicino a Malta, 13 marzo 2026 (SULLA SINISTRA la posizione del 15 marzo 2026 della nave alla deriva a sud ovest di Malta)

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

'It is an environmental bomb that risks doing serious damage to the entire surrounding area in the Mediterranean Sea'. Thus the undersecretary to the presidency of the Council, Alfredo Mantovano, on Radio 24 about the Russian LNG carrier* Arctic Metagaz, adrift without a crew - of 30 members, no victims, recovered by another ship - in Maltese waters.

According to Ais data (Imo 9243148), the ship was reported to be headed to Port Said in Egypt. On 15 March 2026, the ship was still reported to be afloat, but drifting at a steep angle about 50 nautical miles southwest of Malta. The causes of the explosions have not been clarified. Some sources have speculated a Ukrainian naval drone attack from the Libyan coast, while others suggest a possible technical accident.

It is the second vessel linked to the Russian ghost fleet to suffer a serious accident in the Mediterranean after the freighter Ursa Major, which sank in December 2024 (source: Wikipedia).

"We are in contact with Malta constantly, we share real-time monitoring: right now the ship is 37 nautical miles from Maltese territorial waters and about 43 nautical miles from Italian territorial waters," he added.

Mantovano, Sottosegretario alla Presidenza del Consiglio, a 24 Mattino su Radio 24: pronti ad intervenire per petroliera russa se lo chiede Malta o Ue

Mantovano: ready to intervene for Russian tanker if Malta or EU asks

"After the accident of the Russian ship the crew of 30 people was rescued, Malta established a ban on approaching below 7 kilometres, becausethe ship could explode at any moment. Today the ship is in Maltese Sar waters, which imposes direct rescue by the state.

Diretta a est

fonte: VesselFinder

Italia has made its technicians, vessels of various types, including those for environmental damage control, available to the Maltese authorities. And if the Maltese or European authorities ask us, we are ready to intervene in no time,' Alfredo Mantovano added to 24 Mattino, on Radio 24.

Alla deriva

Rilevazione domenica 15 marzo 2026

fonte: Afp

The current position

The Maltese authorities, cooperating with the Italian ones, have arranged for three tugs to be deployed to prevent the wreck from entering the territorial waters of the Maltese archipelago.

The Maltese Armed Forces have been monitoring the wreck's movements three times a day for the past week and estimate that there are still 700 tonnes of fuel plus the liquefied gas being transported on board the ship.

"We do not know whether it will be possible to board and secure the wreck to tugs, nor has it yet been determined where it could be towed to, but we are trying to identify a point of sufficient depth," revealed the Maltese sources: the idea would be to cause the wreck to sink, which, despite the severe damage, still has intacttwo of its four gas deposits and is still in the waterline.

The main concern of the Valletta authorities is the risk of water contamination that would jeopardise the water supply of the entire archipelago, which is entrusted to marine desalination plants.

* lNG carriers are cargo ships specialising in the transport of liquefied natural gas. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is mainly transported by sea via special LNG carriers at a cryogenic temperature of approximately -162°.

** Sar (Search and Rescue) zones are internationally defined maritime areas where a coastal state has the legal responsibility to coordinate rescue operations for lives in danger, often extending beyond territorial waters.

La marina francese intercetta una petroliera russa: il video dei militari che salgono a bordo

Malta seeks definitive solution

Malta is seeking international support to find a 'definitive solution' to the problem of the Russian oil tanker adrift in the central Mediterranean, which will be raised by Foreign Minister Ian Borg at today's meeting with EU Council colleagues.

This was announced by Prime Minister Robert Abela as the Arctic Metagaz continues to roam in international waters, moving from Malta's search and rescue zone to those of Italia and Libya at times.

According to surveys carried out in the morning, the LNG carrier is within the Maltese Sar zone but still well away from its territorial waters, specified the Prime Minister, who said he had also raised the issue in the Med9 (the group of member states bordering the Mediterranean, which in addition to Malta includes Italia, France, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Slovenia and Portugal).

Abela said he had contacted the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, while the Med9 countries wereworking "collectively" to find a solution, he added.

The prime minister reiterated that Malta is prepared for any eventuality, with a contingency plan already in place. However, he gave no details on the content of the plan or when it would be activated.

However, he pointed out that the contingency plan involves the use of tugs that are not part of the current AFM (Armed Forces of Malta) fleet. And he revealed that the contacts he had had in recent days with the Russian authorities, as well as with representatives of the tanker's parent company, had not led to the expected 'final solution'.

The Maltese maritime authorities issued a warning to fishermen to keep a safe distance of at least four nautical miles from the Russian vessel.

Alfred Vella, rector of the University of Malta and professor of chemistry, has in recent days raised the alarm about the damage that could be caused by the ship's 'fuel and bilge water being spilled into the sea'.