Crisis Management Assistance

On the night of March 2nd to 3rd, the LNG carrier Arctic Metagaz (Russian flag), which had departed from Russia for Port Said, Egypt, suffered explosions and a fire while in the Mediterranean Sea, between Malta and Libya. Heavily damaged, the vessel began drifting slowly towards the Libyan coast. In addition to potential remains of LNG (liquefied natural gas), the volume of which remained to be estimated, the ship contained marine diesel and heavy fuel oil, also in unknown quantities. CEDRE's emergency response team provided information to EMSA, DG-ECHO, REMPEC (as part of the Mediterranean Assistance Unit of which CEDRE is a member) as well as French authorities (SGMer, CoFGC, French Navy).

The information transmitted primarily concerned LNG, its transport, storage, behavior in the event of a spill on water, the risks of fire and explosion, and the potential environmental impact. These data were based on CEDRE studies and reports. We then provided the ship's plans, notably indicating its fuel capacities. Finally, we exchanged with several stakeholders on the vessel's drift modeling capabilities and potential fuel slicks in the area.

Initially taken in tow off the coast of Libya, the ship was sent back to the high seas to be left adrift. On April 2nd, the Libyan authorities finally took over the case by sending a patrol boat and a team of divers to the area in an attempt to regain control of the vessel.