Overview
- Italy’s civil protection agency says the uncrewed Arctic Metagaz is inside Libya’s search-and-rescue zone roughly 40–53 nautical miles north of Tripoli.
- Libya’s National Oil Corporation reports it has engaged a specialist company to manage the vessel and plans to tow it to a Libyan port, adding that oil facilities are not at risk of pollution.
- Italy reports the most immediate threat is a potential gas release, with no leaks detected so far and onboard LNG quantities still uncertain.
- Italian officials estimate about 450 tonnes of heavy oil and 250 tonnes of diesel remain as fuel, while Libya’s port authority previously cited a cargo of about 62,000 tonnes of LNG destined for Egypt.
- Responsibility for any intervention rests with Libyan authorities, as EU states seek coordinated civil-protection support and Russia alleges Ukrainian sea drones carried out the March 3 attack, a claim Ukraine has not commented on.