These are days of tension for the Mediterranean, where an environmental disaster is at risk. The Russian methane tanker Arctic Metagaz is adrift in the Strait of Sicily: a colossus 277 meters long, carrying over 60,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and, according to what emerges, also 900 tonnes of diesel.
A real time bomb which, if it were to explode, would cause a catastrophe. At the moment the ship is approximately 26 nautical miles from Linosa and approximately 39 from Lampedusa.
Why is the ship adrift? What happened
The Arctic Metagaz methane tanker, which left last February 24th from Murmansk (in Russia), was hit in the Mediterranean by a series of explosions that occurred between March 3rd and 4th. The Maltese authorities intervened promptly to rescue the crew of around 30 people, but the damaged cargo ship remained uncontrolled.
For Russia, the Arctic Metagaz affair would be a terrorist attack carried out by Kiev, but so far there has been no claim and it cannot be ruled out that it could have been an accident. Arctic Metagaz would be part of it. in fact, of the so-called “Russian shadow fleet”, a network of oil and methane tankers (which rely on front companies) used to transport Russian hydrocarbons by circumventing Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine.
The alert remains high
As also confirmed by the mayor of Lampedusa and Linosa Filippo Mannnino, the Italian military is monitoring the situation of the adrift cargo ship together with an anti-pollution vehicle and a tugboat. In the meantime, the Maltese authorities have issued a warning to sailors, recommending that they stay at least 5 miles away from the adrift Arctic Metagaz vessel.
In the event of a spill of 60,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and 900 tonnes of diesel, the scenario would be dramatic for the Mediterranean ecosystem, already compromised by plastic pollution and global warming. It would be very difficult to actually contain the damage of an environmental disaster of this magnitude.
