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".
GNU Transport Minister Mohamed Al-Shahoubi said in a video statement that Libya's National Oil Corporation has been tasked with unloading the Russian tanker’s cargo, and is co-ordinating through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Russian and Maltese authorities to take measures ensuring the safety of maritime navigation in the Mediterranean basin.
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, Editing by William Maclean)
