A Russian liquefied natural gas vessel, the Arctic Metagaz, sank about 130 nautical miles north of the Libyan port of Sirte after it had caught fire as a result of some explosions whose cause is still unknown. The accident, attributed by the Russian Ministry of Transport to Ukrainian naval drones, has also raised alarms for the possible extension to the of the ongoing war crisis in the Middle East.

The Libyan Ports & Maritime Transport Authority explained that the ship, carrying a cargo of 62,000 tons of gas liquefied natural natural flux, was from Murmansk, Russia, and to Port Said, Egypt, and launched a request for received last night from the operations room of the Libyan Search and Rescue followed by sudden explosions in that caused a large fire and then the sinking of the ship whose wreckage is located within the search area and Libyan rescue. A cargo ship, the closest to the place incident, was sent to provide assistance and rescued all 30 crew members including no were seriously injured.

The Libyan Ports & Maritime Transport Authority has therefore urged ships in transit to avoid the area where the Russian unit sunk due to the potential presence of debris whose size and depth have not yet been determined. He also expressed concern about the possibility of of leaks of flammable or polluting materials from tanks of the ship that could pose a threat to the maritime navigation and the marine environment of the area.

Specified that the cause of the explosions that preceded The fire remains unknown, the Libyan Authority recalled that in mid-December, a Russian oil tanker had been attacked by Drones off the Libyan coast, an attack that had been claimed from Ukraine.