An unmanned Russian ship has been drifting in the Mediterranean for 57 days with 60,000 tons of gas — the second towing attempt has just failed.

Since March 3, 2026, the Russian tanker has been drifting crewless in the Mediterranean Sea with 60 thousand tons of LNG on board — cable snapped, winds reached 50 knots, waves reached five meters, and the second towing attempt ended in failure

The Russian tanker Arctic Metagaz completes 57 days adrift in the Mediterranean Sea on April 29, 2026 — and the problem is far from being resolved.

According to the Histórias do Mar column, published this Tuesday (29) by UOL, the second attempt to contain the erratic advance of the tanker Arctic Metagaz adrift in the Mediterranean failed last week.

Since March 3, the vessel has been drifting without anyone on board, carrying a cargo of over 60 thousand tons of liquefied natural gas and another 900 tons of diesel — which makes it an uncontrolled floating bomb.

Furthermore, two LNG tanks remain intact on board, according to Italian authorities who monitored the ship in the first weeks.

What is the Arctic Metagaz and how the nightmare began

The Arctic Metagaz is a Russian LNG tanker operated by SMP Techmanagement LLC, a subsidiary of NOVATEK — one of Russia’s largest natural gas producers and a pillar of the Arctic LNG-2 project.

On March 3, 2026, Ukrainian maritime drones struck the vessel while it was sailing near Malta, in the central Mediterranean.

As reported by Euronews Portugal, the 30 crew members — all Russian citizens — abandoned the ship in lifeboats.

Therefore, an Omani tanker passing through the region rescued the crew safely.

The crew survived. The ship was not destroyed by the attack — but became uncontrollable, at the mercy of the currents and winds of the central Mediterranean.

Therefore, since that March morning, no crew member has returned on board. The Arctic Metagaz drifts alone.

Parts of the hull were blackened and damaged by fire. Images taken by an Italian Navy plane showed two holes on the side of the ship — but the main LNG tanks remained intact.

The terrifying cargo: 60 thousand tons of LNG at -162°C

What makes the Arctic Metagaz case different from any other modern shipwreck is the nature of its cargo.

On board are 60 thousand tons of liquefied natural gas — the equivalent of the monthly gas consumption of a medium-sized European city.

Additionally, the ship carries 900 tons of diesel, the vessel’s own engine fuel.

LNG is stored at temperatures of -162°C. Any rupture in the tanks would cause immediate evaporation in the form of cryogenic clouds.

According to an analysis published by The Conversation, these clouds are denser than air — and accumulate close to the sea surface.

In practice, this means they expel oxygen from the water column, creating lethal asphyxiation zones for marine fauna in a wide radius around the leak point.

The WWF classified the risk of leakage as “extremely high and potentially irreversible”.

To get an idea of the scale: the area where the ship is drifting hosts almost all protected marine species in the Mediterranean.

• Migratory routes of bluefin tuna and swordfish pass through the region
• Seabed ecosystems take decades to recover after an LNG leak
• Fishing and tourism in Sicily, Malta, and the Libyan coast would be directly affected
• The central Mediterranean is a breeding ground for species protected by the EU

Consequently, a leak of these proportions would not only be an environmental tragedy — it would be an economic crisis for the surrounding countries.

The failure of the second attempt: cable snapped at the worst moment

It was not the first time a rescue operation failed.

The second attempt to tow the Arctic Metagaz to the nearest port began with hope — and ended with the cable snapping in the open sea.

Winds reaching 40 to 50 knots and waves over five meters high completely thwarted the maneuver, according to the Libyan Coast Guard.

The moment the cable broke, the ship resumed drifting uncontrollably through the Mediterranean.

However, the authorities’ response followed the same pattern as previous attempts: alerts, emergency meetings, and no concrete rescue action.

The Libyan Coast Guard issued an urgent alert to all ships in the region, ordering them to maintain a minimum distance of 10 nautical miles from the Arctic Metagaz.

Similarly, Malta and Italy intensified aerial and maritime monitoring — but without committing to rescue or tow the vessel.

Despite this, the ship continues to drift, now heading towards the North African coast.

The jurisdictional race around the Arctic Metagaz: Italy, Malta, and Libya refuse responsibility

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the Arctic Metagaz adrift case is not technical — it is political.

In the first two weeks adrift, the ship crossed three distinct jurisdictions: Malta, Italy, and Libya.

None of these states assumed responsibility for intercepting or towing the vessel.

On March 18, 2026, Italian Civil Protection formally announced that it could no longer track the ship’s movements.

Furthermore, Malta publicly declared that the situation was beyond its operational scope.

Consequently, the Arctic Metagaz began operating in a maritime governance vacuum — a ship without an effective owner, without a recognized flag of responsibility, in international waters that belong to everyone and no one at the same time.

Southern European countries pressured the European Union to take command of the containment operation.

However, the EU’s response was marked by the same slowness that characterized the entire episode.