Ukrainian Sea Drones Sank Tanker in Mediterranean, Russia Says

Russia said on March 4 that Ukraine was responsible for sinking a liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Arctic Metagaz sank between Libya and Malta after catching fire on March 3, the Libyan Ports and Maritime Transport Authority said in an advisory.

Moscow said Ukraine attacked the vessel with aquatic drones.

The Russian Ministry of Transport said in a March 4 post on Telegram that Moscow classifies what happened “as an act of international terrorism and maritime piracy, and as a gross violation of the fundamental norms of international maritime law.”

“The tanker was traveling with a cargo that had been documented in full compliance with all international regulations from the port of Murmansk,” the ministry stated. “The attack on it was carried out, presumably, from the coast of Libya using unmanned boats of Ukraine.”

The ministry said that the 30 crew members—all Russian citizens—survived the incident and were rescued; however, two sustained injuries.

Nikolai Shestakov, spokesman for the ministry, told Russian state-run news agency TASS that the injured pair had sustained burns and were taken to a hospital in Benghazi, Libya, while the rest of the crew were bound for Murmansk, Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the sinking a “terrorist attack,” according to TASS.

The Epoch Times contacted the Security Service of Ukraine for comment, but did not receive a response before publication time. No public statements from the government in Kyiv have yet been made regarding the incident.

Ukraine has frequently targeted Moscow’s oil refineries and other energy infrastructure, but this would be its first attack on a Russian LNG tanker, if it is confirmed that Kyiv was responsible.

The Arctic Metagaz was suspected to be part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, which is accused by Ukraine and its allies of transporting Russian oil and gas in defiance of sanctions to generate revenue for Moscow’s war effort.

The tanker was under Western sanctions and had sailed from Murmansk. It was bound for Port Said on Egypt’s Mediterranean, according to the Libyan maritime authority.

Following the sinking, another tanker carrying LNG from Russia’s sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 plant was diverted from the Mediterranean Sea to sail around Africa, LSEG ship-tracking data showed on March 4.

That tanker, the Buran, changed course after the incident and is currently off the northwest coast of Africa, according to the data.

Gas carriers with cargos from Arctic LNG 2, located on the Gydan Peninsula in northern West Siberia, usually sail via the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal to deliver exports to China, or take the Northern Sea Route along the Russian Arctic coast during the summer.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.