Russian shadow fleet LNG tanker ablaze southeast of Malta after suspected drone attack [View all]

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.