The Russian tanker Arctic Metagaz, carrying liquefied natural gas, has remained adrift in the Mediterranean for more than two weeks after a drone attack and a fire onboard. The crew was evacuated, but the damaged vessel, loaded with hazardous cargo, is still without control, and European countries are warning of a serious environmental threat.
According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, the LNG carrier with 30 Russian sailors aboard was attacked on the morning of March 3 in neutral waters 168 nautical miles southeast of Malta. She said the vessel, carrying 100,000 cubic meters of LNG, lost propulsion and power after being hit by sea and aerial drones, and a fire and gas explosion followed onboard.
All sailors abandoned the ship in a lifeboat and were rescued later the same day. Zakharova also said two crew members suffered severe burns, and Libya’s maritime rescue service provided assistance: the injured men were taken to a hospital in the port of Benghazi and later transported to Russia. Russian authorities called the incident a terrorist attack and blamed Ukraine. Kyiv has not commented on the strike or claimed responsibility.
According to Kommersant, the vessel had been used to transport LNG from the Arctic LNG 2 project in the Yamal-Nenets region to the Chinese terminal in Beihai. The tanker was built in South Korea in 2003 for operations on the Northern Sea Route. In 2025, it received a Russian flag and its current name. At the same time, 2025 records listed the owner as the Indian company Ocean Speedstar Solutions OPC Private Limited. Arctic Metagaz is under U.S., U.K., and EU sanctions as part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.
Libya’s maritime agency initially reported that the vessel had sunk, but it later emerged that it was still afloat. At first, the tanker drifted between Malta and Italy, then began moving toward Libya. On March 18, Italian authorities said they could no longer maintain close monitoring because the ship had moved beyond Italian territorial waters. The same day, Libyan authorities warned ships and oil platforms off their coast about the danger posed by the listing tanker.
Italy, France and seven other EU countries sent a letter to the European Commission calling for urgent action. The letter says the vessel’s unstable condition and the nature of its cargo create an imminent threat of a major environmental disaster in EU maritime space.
“The unstable condition of the vessel, combined with the nature of its special cargo, creates an imminent and serious risk of a major environmental catastrophe in the heart of the Union’s maritime space,” the EU countries said in their letter.
WWF Italy declared a maximum alert level. The organization warned that a possible LNG leak could cause fires, cryogenic clouds lethal to marine life, and prolonged pollution of water and air. According to WWF, the vessel may also be carrying up to 900 tons of diesel fuel and more than 60,000 tons of LNG.