Russia Blames Ukraine for Sinking Massive Tanker in the Mediterranean

RedState 

The Russian Transport Ministry is blaming the Ukrainian military for the massive explosion that sent the 93,000-ton liquid natural gas tanker Arctic Metagaz to the bottom of the Mediterranean. The Arctic Metagaz, a sanctioned Russian-flagged LNG tanker, was en route from Tieshan, China, to Port Said, Egypt with a cargo of 61,000 tons of LNG. When she was about 150 miles off Sirte, Libya, she lit up the Mediterranean sky.

The ship sank, and allegedly all 30 crew members were rescued. Though, I have to say that I am skeptical that you can cook off 61,000 tons of LNG and not have a single fatality.

The Russians claim the vessel came under “a terrorist attack” from a Ukrainian sea drone launched from the Libyan coast. While drones being launched from the "Libyan coast" seems pretty unlikely, there have been other suspected Ukrainian attacks on Russian vessels. On December 19, the "dark fleet" Oman-flagged tanker Qendil was hit by aerial drones off the Libyan coast. It was reported to have been seriously damaged but was able to keep moving.

It just didn't keep moving all that long.

Much more interesting is the sinking of the Ursa Major just inside the Straits of Gibraltar.

The declared cargo was two heavy port cranes, each weighing 380 tons, with a lifting capacity of 350 tons, and two 45-ton hatch covers for new icebreakers for Vladivostok. A Spanish investigation concluded that the undeclared cargo was "two VM-4SG nuclear reactor housings destined for North Korea based on satellite images prior to the ships sinking." 

This war on Russian tankers in the Mediterranean is paying strategic dividends. Russian "dark fleet" tankers are rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid passing through the Mediterranean.

Even more significantly, another shadow fleet vessel appears to have altered its route entirely.

The LNG carrier Arctic Vostok, which was sailing westbound across the eastern Indian Ocean when the blast occurred, initially slowed and began circling south of Sri Lanka shortly after news of the incident emerged.

In the past 24 hours, however, the vessel has begun steadily heading south-southwest – a course that suggests it is preparing to bypass the Suez Canal and instead sail around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.

Such a detour would keep the vessel far from the Mediterranean and well outside the potential range of Ukrainian maritime drones.