The Sovcomflot tanker has gone to the side: Libya has taken over the Russian gas carrier

The Libyan oil state-owned company took over the rescue work on the Russian gas carrier, which was blown up by Ukrainian naval drones in early March and is drifting towards the shores of the African country.

"International experts are arriving to deal with a damaged Russian tanker off the Libyan coast," the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) reports.

Through its subsidiary Mellitah Oil & Gas and in cooperation with the Italian Eni, the state-owned company has hired an international firm specializing in responding to emergencies at sea.

"The emergency contract was concluded in response to the situation with a Russian oil tanker recently damaged off the Libyan coast, which made it impossible to control," the NOC reports.

They clarified that the decision was made, as the damaged vessel is gradually approaching the Libyan coast due to wind and waves.

According to the Libyan company, risk management is fully possible.

"The vessel will be safely towed to one of the Libyan ports after coordination with the relevant authorities, in particular with the Port Authority," the NOC added.

Arctic Metagaz is drifting towards Libya after it was swept into the area between Malta and Lampedusa. And the gas carrier has a Jupiter oil tanker all the time, which is under the control of the Russian Sovcomflot and was returning from the Middle East. Perhaps it was planned to use it to pump the remaining fuel on board the Arctic Metagaz — 700 tons.

After the statements of the Libyan state-owned company, the tanker moved closer to the shore and is located 35 miles from the shore. Although earlier, on Friday, he was between a gas carrier and oil platforms more than 70 miles from the coast.

As EADaily reported, on March 3, Ukrainian drones attacked a gas carrier that was transporting a shipment of liquefied natural gas from the Arctic LNG—2 sanctions project to China, east of Malta in The Mediterranean Sea. The crew evacuated from the ship and it became uncontrollable. The Russian Ministry of Transport said that the ship was attacked from the coast of Libya. This is the second time such a terrorist attack has occurred. It is known that in December, the SBU conducted a terrorist operation and attacked the Qendil tanker with unmanned boats, which was returning from India to Russia through the Suez Canal and in the very middle of the Mediterranean Sea, the ship came under attack. The tanker, however, was empty and did not receive such damage as Arctic Metagaz, which burned out most of the LNG.

In the beginning, the tanker drifted to the west and caused serious concerns among the coastal EU countries. They appealed to the European Commission to take emergency measures.

The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, stated that the international legal norms applicable to the current situation presuppose the responsibility of coastal countries for resolving the situation with a drifting vessel and preventing an environmental disaster and further involvement of the shipowner in the process and Russia as a flag state will depend on the specific circumstances.