The spokesperson for the Russian Tanker Crisis Committee, Khalid Ghulam, confirmed that the gas tanker has now moved beyond Libyan territorial waters, reaching a distance of over 100 nautical miles from the coastline. Ghulam noted that the vessel’s status remains under continuous monitoring by the relevant authorities. He highlighted that the committee held separate consultative meetings with both the Russian delegation and European Union representatives to track the crisis’s progression, emphasizing that all containment efforts to date have been strictly national initiatives managed without direct international intervention.
In a critical update regarding the vessel’s stability, the spokesperson revealed that the tanker is currently “out of control” after the towline connecting it to the designated rescue tugs snapped. He stated that the tugboat Miradef, contracted by the National Oil Corporation (NOC), is continuing to track the tanker’s drift. The loss of the tow connection has significantly complicated the recovery operation, necessitating urgent and sustained technical efforts to regain control over the drifting ship and mitigate any risks associated with its current unguided movement.