The Russian-flagged Arctic Metagaz, carrying LNG from the Arctic port of Murmansk, has been adrift since early March

A handout picture shows Russian LNG tanker, Arctic Metagaz, damaged earlier this month and currently adrift without crew, floats in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and the Italian islands of Lampedusa and Linosa. Photo: Reuters

TRIPOLI:

Libya’s coast guard has begun towing away a damaged liquefied natural gas tanker that several Mediterranean countries warned posed an environmental risk after drifting unmanned for weeks, the Tripoli based Government of National Unity (GNU) said.

The Russian-flagged Arctic Metagaz, carrying LNG from the Arctic port of Murmansk, has been adrift since early March, when Russia’s Transport Ministry said it was hit by Ukrainian naval drones. With no crew aboard, it eventually drifted close to the shores of the western Libyan port of Zuwara.

The Russian transport ministry said the drones that hit the tanker were launched from Libya. Italy, France, Spain and six other southern EU members wrote to the European Commission last week warning the tanker posed “an imminent and serious risk of a major ecological disaster”.

GNU Transport Minister Mohamed Al-Shahoubi said in a video statement that Libya’s National Oil Corporation has been tasked with unloading the tanker’s cargo, and is coordinating through the Foreign Ministry with Russian and Maltese authorities to take measures ensuring the safety of maritime navigation in the Mediterranean.