Italian government holds emergency meeting over LNG tanker adrift between Malta and Lampedusa

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni held a meeting to address the situation involving the LNG tanker Arctic Metagaz, which is drifting between Malta and Lampedusa while carrying about 900 tonnes of diesel fuel along with two tanks of liquefied gas.

According to a statement quoted by Italian media, the vessel is currently located within Malta’s search-and-rescue area

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Italy informed Malta’s government that it would cooperate in monitoring the situation and share the surveillance efforts. Rome also confirmed it is ready to assist with support operations if requested.

The ship, which was struck by a maritime drone, was left with a massive hole 150 nautical miles southeast of Malta. Just 23 hours before the attack, it was only 25 nautical miles away from Malta, on Hurd's Bank.

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By Friday morning, the vessel had drifted a few miles east of the Italian island of Linosa.

Lampedusa and Linosa’s mayor explained that the tanker is located about 30 miles east of Linosa in international waters and is slowly drifting toward Malta due to wind conditions.

Environmental organisation World Wide Fund for Nature said it is closely following developments and warned that any spill from the vessel’s cargo could lead to serious consequences. 

The group said a release of fuel or liquefied gas could trigger fires, create extremely cold gas clouds, and cause long-term pollution of the surrounding sea and air.