Russian shadow fleet LNG tanker ablaze southeast of Malta after suspected drone attack

[James48]

Source: Malta Today

• A Russian-flagged Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) tanker is struck in a suspected drone attack in international waters southeast of Malta • German military marine patrol aircraft circling over the vessel

An LNG tanker, part of Russia's sanctioned shadow fleet, is ablaze in international waters to the southeast of Malta after reportedly being struck by a Ukrainian maritime drone.

Sources close to the Maltese military told MaltaToday that the Armed Forces of Malta deployed an aircraft over the burning vessel shortly after the incident was communicated on maritime radio channels. The sources said the vessel is currently being assisted by another commercial vessel and all crew on board were accounted for.

The incident is understood to have occurred some 150 nautical miles in international waters southeast off Malta. The sources suggested that the incident happened in Libyan search and rescue area. The vessel's current location is not known but aircraft tracking website Flightradar 24 shows that a German military maritime patrol aircraft that departed from Sigonella in Sicily has been circling intensely over an area to Malta's southeast for around three hours.

The Russian-flagged vessel, Arctic Metagaz, was just outside Maltese territorial waters on Hurd's Bank some 23 hours ago, according to ship-tracking website VesselFinder.



Read more: https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/140097/russian_shadow_fleet_lng_tanker_ablaze_southeast_of_malta_after_suspected_drone_attack1

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This is huge- it appears to be an attack on a Russian tanker in the Mediterranean. NOT the Persian Gulf. It’s not clear who attacked- it may bE Ukrainian, or could be Iranian. Nobody is claiming it yet. Just happened today.

It means war has spread to the Med.

[Wednesdays]

1. Iran has no beef with Russia.

In fact, aren't they allies?

So, my first guess is that the drone was indeed, Ukrainian.

But holy smokes, there are Ukrainian ships all the way out to Malta?

[somsai]

2. I was reading elsewhere.....

That Ukraine has the use of some island off libya, and also that the ship was hit with a over water drone, which Ukraine seems to have specialized in building.

I guess superficially it's maybe a 100 to 150 million dollar loss. Cargo plus ship. And, that shipping in general is an indicator of a bigger issue.

Mainly insurance. Lloyds insures most ships, and Lloyds is talking about withdrawing insurance for lots of things, not simply upping the premiums to make lots of profits but refusing to cover things. The thought is that because the US seems to not be sharing some intelligence with Loyds they feel unable to asses risk.

Also today Trump said the US will both offer insurance for ships traversing the strait of Hormuz and also provide escorts. This allows the US to make a profit off the insurance and also only escort ships they want to let through.

Lloyds insures ships, planes, oil processing facilities, ports, all kinds of things that are vulnerable during wars.

Mostly I am just relaying speculation I've read today. Make of it what you will.

[RussBLib]

3. LNG tanker on fire? How is that possible?

The proponents of more LNG here in South Texas assure us that LNG does not explode. It rather disperses into a cloud which hovers over the water and will dissipate but not explode. Maybe we will get to see with our own eyes that LNG is not as safe as they claim it is.

I'm happy to report that Port Isabel, TX government and a few other towns in the area have voted to REJECT a tax abatement for another LNG plant not yet built. This does not mean that the LNG plant will not be built, just that, if it is built, there will be no tax abatement.

I have long held that, "If your company or product destroys the environment, you should at least pay full price, and full taxes."

https://russblib.blogspot.com