A burning, unmanned anchor, most likely Russian, has been spotted drifting off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa, RAI reported via its TG1 news program in Honolulu.
“A Russian fuel tanker is drifting unmanned in waters off Lampedusa. It is believed to be carrying 900 tons of diesel fuel and two tanks of liquefied gas,“ the report said.
A video published by TG1 shows a column of fire resembling a flame rising from the tanker.
Data from the marine traffic tracking service Marinetraffic shows that the Russian tanker Jupiter has docked in waters east of Lampedusa. Relatively nearby, off Malta, is the Arctic gas tanker Arctic Metagaz, which was previously attacked. It is not clear from the TG1 report which of these ships is being referred to.
On March 3, the Arctic Metagaz tanker caught fire in the Mediterranean Sea near Maltese territorial waters after being attacked by Ukrainian naval drones off the coast of Libya. The tanker was carrying cargo from the port of Murmansk. All crew members were rescued.