An explosion occurred on board the Vilamoura tanker carrying one million barrels of oil off the coast of Libya, Bloomberg reports.
According to the Greek company TMS Tankers (the owner of the vessel), the explosion flooded the engine room. The cause of the accident is still unknown. None of the crew was not injured, no oil leakage was recorded. The vessel is being towed to Greece for damage assessment.
According to tracking services, in April the Vilamoura called at the Russian port of Ust-Luga, where it loaded Kazakh oil. In May, the tanker visited the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal near Novorossiysk. The explosion occurred during a voyage from the Libyan port of Zeitina towards Gibraltar.
According to Vanguard Tech, a maritime risk assessment company, at least four similar incidents have been recorded since the beginning of the year involving vessels that had previously called at Russian ports. Shipowners have since started checking the hulls of tankers for explosive devices.
These incidents include an explosion on the Grace Ferrum tanker off the coast of Libya in February, damage to the Seajewel in Italy’s Savona after two explosions, and an incident involving the Seacharm near the port of Ceyhan in January. All of these ships have been linked to oil shipments from Russia.
Also on February 9, there was an explosion in the engine room of the Koala tanker, which was standing in Ust-Luga with 130,000 tonnes of fuel oil. According to the US Treasury Department, the vessel belongs to a Cypriot company, which is involved in the transport of Russian oil to circumvent sanctions.
Many vessels in Russia’s shadow fleet are subject to sanctions imposed by the US, the EU, Canada and Australia.