Russia Surveyed the Hulk of Arctic Metagaz in its Criminal Investigation
The Russian Investigative Committee released details after its survey of the wreck of the gas carrier Arctic Metagaz. It says it is continuing with the forensic investigation into the “criminal case of an act of international terrorism.”
A team of investigators from the Committee, assisted by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, traveled to Libya. They used unmanned aerial vehicles and underwater vehicles to perform a detailed inspection of the vessel. They report documenting evidence of the fire, the complete destruction of the vessel’s control systems, and the destruction of two of the four LNG tanks.
“The nature of the damage indicates external impact from explosive devices,” the Committee said in its statement. Spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko also asserted that the vessel was attacked on March 3 off the coast of Malta by “unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned boats armed with explosive devices,” but they stopped short of specifically naming Ukraine for carrying out the attack.
The team also recovered the vessel’s data recorder. The Committee says it is being “decoded” as part of a computer-technical examination. It is part of a range of forensic examinations that have been ordered.
The vessel’s second mate and a sailor who were injured during the blast and fire have successfully received medical treatment. The crew has been repatriated to Murmansk.
(Click to play video - Russian Investigative Committee)
The statement did not say when the vessel was surveyed. Libyan officials reported they had been attempting for weeks to control the hulk, which was drifting in the Mediterranean. Unconfirmed reports indicated that the vessel was finally brought under control by forces in eastern Libya and anchored near Benghazi.
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Russian officials have repeatedly described it as an act of “maritime piracy” and “international terrorism.” However, they declined to get involved in the salvage efforts, saying the hulk would be the responsibility of the area where it finally came to rest.
Ukraine has remained silent on the incident, never taking credit for the destruction of the ship. The media outlet RFI and the Associated Press, however, detailed how Ukraine had set up a unit in Libya. They had asserted that in a covert deal between Ukraine and the UN-recognized government, which controls Tripoli and western Libya, as many as 200 Ukrainian operatives, mostly drone experts, were working from three bases in Libya.