CAIRO (AP) — A vessel flying the Russian flag and transporting liquefied natural gas burst into flames and went down in Mediterranean waters near Libya’s coastline, North African officials announced Wednesday. Authorities reported no deaths or injuries from the incident.
The vessel was operating under Western economic restrictions and believed to belong to Russia’s covert fleet of energy transport ships attempting to circumvent penalties placed on Moscow due to its military actions in Ukraine. Officials have not yet determined what triggered the blast.
Libya’s Maritime Authority reported that the Arctic Metagaz experienced “sudden explosions, followed by a massive fire” on Tuesday while positioned roughly 240 kilometers (150 miles) from the Libyan port city of Sirte.
The LNG carrier, loaded with 61,000 tons of liquefied natural gas, “completely sank” in waters between Libya and Malta, according to an official statement. Emergency responders successfully evacuated all 30 crew members, who were transferred to another ship en route to Benghazi, Libya.
The vessel had departed from Murmansk, a northwestern Russian port on the Barents Sea, with Port Said, Egypt as its Mediterranean destination. Ship-tracking service MarineTraffic showed the tanker’s final recorded location was in western Mediterranean waters near Malta’s coast.
