Greek shipping company TMS Tankers said a preliminary investigation indicates that an external explosive device most likely caused the 27 June blast that crippled its Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Vilamoura while the vessel was sailing off Libya. The explosion in the engine room flooded the compartment and left the ship without propulsion, but all crew members escaped injury. Carrying about one million barrels of crude loaded in the Russian port of Ust-Luga, the 274-metre tanker has since been towed to Laconikos Bay in southern Greece for inspection. Maritime security analysts have pointed to limpet mines as a possible cause of the damage. The Vilamoura incident is the fifth unexplained tanker blast this year affecting ships that recently visited Russian ports, heightening concern about sabotage risks along key Mediterranean and Baltic shipping lanes. Those fears intensified after a separate incident on 6 July, when the LPG tanker Eco Wizard suffered an onboard explosion during ammonia-loading operations at Russia’s Ust-Luga port, causing a leak and forcing the evacuation of its 23-person crew. Russian authorities described the spill as minor, but divers have been sent to examine two hull breaches near the engine room and investigators are considering sabotage as one line of inquiry. The Eco Wizard case brings the tally of mystery blasts involving tankers linked to Russian trade to at least six this year.
Характер повреждений на корпусе танкера, пострадавшего при взрыве в порту Усть-Луга, указывает на диверсию — источники Baza https://t.co/slb4UMzJPO
$GASS the next vessel to be hit by a “mystery” explosion in Russia … Mystery = Ukrainian sabotage https://t.co/Pl6sJTca9d
A sixth Russian shadow fleet tanker suffers a mystery explosion this year while berthed in the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga on Sunday – costing millions in lost revenue and their transport minister his job. https://t.co/MgF9wXpXtu