The Digester

After an alleged drone strike east of Malta, the unmanned Russian tanker Arctic Metagaz is drifting toward Libya with significant fuel and gas on board, prompting emergency towing plans and cross border concerns.

The Arctic Metagaz stopped transmitting after an alleged drone attack east of Malta and was filmed on fire with a large hull breach.
Russian officials said 30 crew were evacuated and the tanker carries about 450 tons of heavy fuel and 250 tons of diesel, while Greenpeace warned the vessel may hold more than 60,000 tons of gas that could explode.
Five EU coastal states asked the European Commission to trigger civil protection over the risk of a large-scale pollution event in EU waters.
Libya's National Oil Corporation and Italy's Eni agreed to tow the wreck to a Libyan port, but Italian authorities said the operation is complex because of the large breach.
Experts say the incident highlights risks from Russia's shadow fleet of old, poorly tracked tankers used to evade sanctions and from rising attacks on commercial shipping.
Legal and security implications could follow if Ukraine carried out the strike, because targeting ships linked to a state war economy raises law of war questions and risks maritime escalation.

Damaged Russian tanker Arctic Metagaz drifts toward Libya, threatens Mediterranean spill

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