Rome — Five southern European countries are demanding an urgent solution to an unmanned Russian tanker drifting in the Mediterranean Sea, according to a letter confirmed by the Spanish government on Wednesday, and warned the European Commission it poses a major environmental threat.
The Arctic is part of Metagaze. of russia The so-called “shadow fleet” transports sanctioned fossil fuels. The tanker carrying liquefied natural gas was badly damaged in a suspected maritime drone attack near Maltese waters earlier this month.
early March, Russia blames attack by Ukrainian maritime drone To hit a tanker carrying liquefied natural gas Mediterranean Sea Out of Libya.
In a joint letter sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the leaders of Italy, Spain, Malta, Greece and Cyprus warned that the ship poses an “imminent and serious risk” of a major ecological disaster, and urged the activation of the bloc’s civil protection mechanism.
In addition to the Spanish government, three EU government officials confirmed the contents of the letter. The three officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The five leaders urged a coordinated EU-level response to quickly mobilize resources, citing the tanker’s damaged condition and dangerous cargo as major concerns.
“The dangerous condition of the ship, combined with the nature of its special cargo, gives rise to an imminent and serious threat of a major ecological disaster in the center of the Union’s maritime zone,” they wrote in the letter.
All crew members survived but the damaged tanker, which was carrying LNG and other fuel, is now drifting without the crew and its payload of explosive fuel.
In their letter, the five leaders highlighted the widespread risks posed by ships operating outside international standards, warning of threats to maritime security and the environment in the Mediterranean.
The leaders said they intended to raise these issues at this week’s European Council meeting, and expressed their willingness to cooperate with the Commission to ensure “a quick, European-led solution”.
The tanker was drifting between Malta and the Sicilian island of Lampedusa earlier this week, but is now moving closer to Libya, Malta media reported on Wednesday.
Alfredo Mantovano, undersecretary of the Italian prime minister’s office, told an Italian radio program on Monday that Malta had imposed a ban on coming within 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) of the tanker, “because the ship could explode at any time.”
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Elena Bekatoros in Athens and Menelaos Hadjikostis in Nicosia, Cyprus contributed to this report.
