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.
A 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, in this handout picture released on March 13, 2026. Marina Militare/Handout via Reuters
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.
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".
A video posted on Tuesday by the Tripoli-based GNU's Hakomitna media platform showed a frigate towing the tanker with a thick rope through the water.
The commander of operations for the central sector of the coast guard and ports security, Omar Mohamed Omar Al-Tuwair, said in the video that the abandoned tanker has been towed away from Zuwara's shores.
"We assure our people throughout Libya in general, and the western coastal areas in particular, especially Zuwara and Sabratha, that the relevant authorities are making every effort to deal with the situation," Tuwair said.
The authorities have not yet disclosed the final destination of the tanker.
The Russian transport ministry said the drones that hit the tanker were launched from Libya. Neither Ukraine nor Libya have commented on the incident.
Reporting by Ahmed Elumami
Spain's Ceuta, still reeling from a rush of 72,000 migrants arriving on its shores in one week, is seeking the transfer of hundreds of unaccompanied minors still in the enclave to mainland Spain, local leaders said on Wednesday.
Libyan police said inmates staged a mass escape from a jail on Tuesday while armed clashes erupted nearby in two cities west of the capital Tripoli.
Spanish authorities should have anticipated the consequences of a court ruling that weakened a key deterrent against illegal migration and contributed to last week's mass crossings into the enclave of Ceuta in northern Morocco, a senior Moroccan official said on Monday.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.