Oil tanker damaged by blast weeks after visiting Russian ports
Editor's note: The article was updated with a statement from Ukraine's military intelligence agency.
A tanker carrying 1 million barrels of oil experienced an explosion near Libya, its operator, TMS Tankers, said on June 30. The vessel, Vilamoura, is now being towed to Greece, where the extent of the damage will be assessed upon arrival.
The blast caused the engine room to flood due to water intake, though the cause of the explosion remains unclear, according to a company spokesperson.
The spokesperson confirmed that the crew is safe and no pollution has been reported.
According to Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR), the vessel belongs to Russia's shadow fleet, used by Moscow to evade sanctions. The explosion occurred on June 27 as the ship was departing the Libyan port of Zuwetina, some 150 kilometers (90 miles) northeast of Libyan territorial waters, HUR reported.
The incident comes amid a series of unexplained blasts targeting oil tankers that had previously visited Russian ports. In response, shipowners have started inspecting their vessels for mines using divers and underwater drones.
Vilamoura had visited Russian oil terminals twice since April, loading Kazakh-origin crude rather than Russian oil. According to Bloomberg vessel-tracking data, the tanker called at the Russian port of Ust-Luga in early April and at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal near Novorossiysk in May. Both terminals primarily handle Kazakh crude exports.
Maritime risk consultancy Vanguard Tech reported that four other vessels have been damaged by explosions since the beginning of the year. Each had recently docked at Russian ports, the firm said.
Ukraine has targeted Russian energy assets throughout the full-scale invasion, including a drone strike in February on the CPC pipeline, a route responsible for moving roughly 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports.
