Russia's Arctic Metagaz liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship was attacked by a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle from a base in western Libya, an area controlled by the Tripoli government led by Abdul Hamid al-Dbeibeh.
The latest investigation results revealed that a Russian LNG tanker was attacked by a Ukrainian Magura V5 unmanned aerial vehicle. This vehicle was launched from a base in Mellitah - where Ukrainian forces are stationed.
The attack on the Arctic Metagaz ship occurred on March 3, when Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles approached the ship in the area near Maltese territorial waters.
After that, a fire broke out on the ship, accompanied by a gas explosion. The Arctic Metagaz ship was neutralized and completely lost power.
The Libyan Emergency Situations Committee said that it is currently impossible to predict the direction of movement of the Arctic Metagaz ship as the ship is drifting.
Libyan officials emphasized that they have mobilized all available resources to handle the situation and prevent risks from arising. At the same time, Libya called on Mediterranean coastal countries to implement response measures to the ship drifting freely.
On April 2, the Libyan government said that the Arctic Metagaz tugboat operation failed due to bad weather. The Libyan Port and Maritime Transport Authority announced that the tugboat operation failed at 4 am on April 2 due to severe weather and strong winds causing the oil tanker to drift out of control.
The agency called on all ships and naval units to maintain a distance of at least 10 nautical miles from the drifting oil tanker.
The Libyan Coast Guard informed that this LNG ship was towed to a safe area off the coast of the town of Zuwara on the west coast of Libya last week.
According to the latest update from Malta Today, the Arctic Metagaz ship has been towed to Malta's search and rescue area.
The Libyan Port and Maritime Transport Authority is calling on ships to report any changes in the status or detection of leaks and smoke from Arctic Metagaz.
