A distant war, a Russian wreck and a Mediterranean problem

Libyan authorities in the east re-engaged with the stricken Russian LNG carrier Arctic Metagaz over the past couple of days after the drifting ship approached the coastline. 

The tugboats Maridive 701 and ICDAS 1 were in the same area as the Russian wreck on Friday, according to ship tracking website Marine Traffic as they towed the ship back out to sea. 

According to Sergio Scandura, an Italian journalist with Radio Radicale who has been tracking the Arctic Metagaz since it was attacked on 3 March, the tugboats restored the towing line with the crippled vessel and towed the wreck out north at about one knot. 

The operation was characterised by several stop-and-go markers on ship tracking websites, in what Scandura described as an “ongoing struggle between the wreck of the Russian tanker and its tugboat”, despite the calm sea conditions of recent days. 

The intention of the latest Libyan operation carried out by the eastern forces led by General Khalifa Haftar remains unclear but the stricken ship, which is listing to one side, still has two tanks with liquefied natural gas cargo and a supply of heavy fuel oil that was used to propel the vessel. The uncrewed vessel, which formed part of Russia’s sanction-busting shadow fleet, is considered to be safety and environmental hazard. 

The Maridive had originally been engaged by the Libyan National Oil Corporation to tow the Arctic Metagaz, when the wreck was drifting towards oil platforms off western Libya. The towing operation was later abandoned because of severe weather conditions just before Easter. 

The latest satellite data from 7 April, provided by Copernicus via Sentinel-2, showed the Russian vessel adrift around 54 nautical miles from the coastline between Benghazi and Daryanah. Based on the more recent location of the two tugboats provided by Marine Traffic and Scandura’s analysis, the wreck later drifted more to the east and closer to the coast. 

Based on the coordinates of the tugboat Maridive, by Saturday, the wreck was likely some 67 nautical miles away from the Libyan coastal town of Tolmeita, which is situated northeast of Benghazi. 

On 3 March, the Arctic Metagaz was hit by two marine drones that caused an explosion and fire on board. The ship was abandoned by its crew and has remained a adrift since then with no country taking responsibility for removing the danger. 

Russia blames Ukraine for the attack and has even suggested the marine drones were dispatched from the Libyan coast. Ukraine has never claimed responsibility for the attack that happened in international waters between Malta and Libya. 

However, the Russian claims appears to be supported by an independent investigation carried out by French media outlet RFI that revealed the presence of Ukrainian military forces in western Libya operating with the blessing of the UN-recognised Tripoli-based government. The maritime surface drone was of the Magura V5 type, manufactured in Ukraine. 

A significant escalation 

Military analyst David P. Attard, a retired colonel and former deputy commander of the Armed Forces of Malta, recently described the attack on the Arctic Metagaz as “a significant escalation” in the Ukraine-Russia war. 

This was ostensibly the first strike by Ukraine on a fully laden tanker forming part of Russia’s shadow fleet. Other strikes have targeted mercantile vessels with no cargo or military ships. 

Writing in MaltaToday, Attard said the attack on a fully loaded tanker in the central Mediterranean by Ukraine suggests a “significant widening of operational scope within a much larger area of operations”. 

“The attack on the Arctic Metagaz in Malta’s backyard also highlights a shifting dynamic in modern warfare where geographically distant conflicts manifest themselves around us with the proliferation of drone technologies,” Attard wrote. 

Meanwhile, the attack has also caused a legal conundrum on how to deal with a potential environmental disaster posed by a sanctioned vessel adrift in the Mediterranean Sea. 

Lawyer Ann Fenech, a specialist in marine litigation, acknowledged the legal complications surrounding the Arctic Metagaz, calling it a “Mediterranean problem”. 

“When a vessel encounters serious problems that require some form of intervention there are various challenges but these are normally of a technical nature. In the case of the Arctic Metagaz, apart from the technical problems resulting from the cargo’s nature and the state of the ship itself, the challenges are bigger because the owners and the cargo are also sanctioned,” she told MaltaToday. 

The ship still has two LNG tanks that are gassing off, she added, and these pose a danger unless handled by experts in the field. But engaging with the stricken vessel is not something countries have been willing to do unless the vessel approached their respective coastlines. 

Indeed, late last month, on Malta’s initiative, several EU Mediterranean states, including Italy, wrote to the European Commission eliciting a European response to the dangers posed by the Arctic Metgaz. The ship had initially drifted closer to Malta before shifting winds took it towards Lampedusa and later down south towards the offshore oil platforms off western Libya. 

Fenech noted that EU sanctions regulations do allow for exemptions whenever a sanctioned vessel requires emergency assistance to safeguard human life or the environment. But she insisted that what is needed in this circumstance is collective action at government level between Mediterranean countries. 

“In the event that the ship cannot be brought under control by Libya which has an extensive coast line and if the ship again finds itself floating aimlessly in the Mediterranean, what is needed is a coalition of European and Mediterranean countries taking a collective decision on how to resolve this challenge,” she said. 

For the time being the wreck remains afloat off the Libyan coast, an ominous reminder of a war being fought thousands of kilometres away and a ticking environmental time bomb.