The Vilamoura tanker, carrying a million barrels of oil, was damaged by an explosion while sailing near Libya, the ship's manager said, Bloomberg reports.
Mysterious Oil Tanker Explosions: What is Known
The Vilamoura is currently being towed to Greece. An assessment of the damage will be made once the vessel arrives. The explosion caused water to enter the engine room and flood it, a TMS Tankers spokesman said. The cause of the explosion remains unknown.
— In recent months, a series of mysterious explosions have occurred on oil tankers that had previously called at Russian ports. Following the explosions, ship owners began checking the hulls of their ships for mines using divers and underwater vehicles, — the publication writes.
The Vilamoura tanker has called at Russian oil terminals twice since April to load Kazakh oil rather than Russian.
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In early April, the Vilamoura called at the Russian port of Ust-Luga, where it loaded barrels of Kazakh origin, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
In May, the ship called at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal near the Russian port of Novorossiysk, which also loads mainly Kazakh barrels.
The explosion did not cause any environmental contamination and the entire crew is safe, the spokesman said.
Four more ships have been damaged by explosions since the start of the year, according to maritime risk consultancy Vanguard Tech. All had recently called at Russian ports.
Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine has consistently sought to undermine Russia's energy infrastructure.
In particular, in February, Ukrainian drones attacked a Caspian Pipeline Consortium junction, which transports 80% of Kazakhstan's oil destined for export.
