A Piece Of The Board Was Ripped Out: Photos Of The Russian Gas Carrier Arctic Metagaz After A Drone Strike Have Appeared
- 4.03.2026, 12:45
The tanker is unrecoverable.
The tanker Arctic Metagaz, which was hit by a drone strike in the Mediterranean Sea, lost a noticeable part of its side in an explosion, photos published by an adviser to Ukraine's Defense Minister Sergei Sternenko show, writes Focus.
The footage was taken by a drone of unknown origin, which for unspecified reasons was at the scene of the incident.
The drones hit the engine room of the Arctic Metagaz RF gas tanker, Sergei Sternenko wrote in Telegram. According to him, the ship was so seriously damaged that it cannot be restored.
The photo shows some details of the strike on the Arctic Metagaz. In particular, there are the approximate coordinates of the point of impact - 34° 20′ 06″ N, 16° 59′ 33″ E, 270 kilometers off the coast of Libya. There is also the time when the drone recorded the effects of the strike - 16:09 and 17:00 on March 3: that is, the drones were still tracking what was happening on the ship for another hour without problems.
What damage did the LNG tanker Arctic Metagaz suffer?
First, the deck superstructure is smoking.
Second, the explosion ripped out a piece of metal on the starboard side, and we are talking about a hole from the deck to the waterline, and seawater is pouring inside the hull. If we take into account the dimensions of the vessel (length 277 m, draft 11 m), indicated on the marinetraffic portal, the approximate dimensions of the breach, which occupies about one-sixth of the length of the board and the height from the deck to the waterline - it is, conventionally, a rectangle of 45 by 20 meters.
Details of the strike on the Arctic Metagaz
On the morning of March 4, the Russian Ministry of Transport confirmed (the strike on the LNG tanker Arctic Metagaz https://charter97.org/ru/news/2026/3/3/675640/). The Russian agency said the ship was traveling from Murmansk and had 30 crew members on board. The ship was allegedly hit by marine drones with explosives: a fire started, all sailors were evacuated in time. The Russian Ministry of Transport also said that there was an "act of international terrorism".
Focus wrote about the drone attack on the tanker Arctic Metagaz, which is under sanctions by Ukraine and all its partners because of the export of Arctic LNG-2 Arctic gas. The strike became known on the evening of March 3. Photos and videos from social media showed the burning ship, and Reuters specified that it belonged to SMP Tech Management LLC, Novatek LNG and the Russian Ministry of Transport.
The incident was commented on by the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation Andrey Kovalenko, who confirmed the strike on the sub-sanctioned ship, which was carrying liquefied gas. The defense forces did not officially confirm the attack on Arctic Metagaz.
Russian Federation tanker lost a piece of its board and is sinking in the Mediterranean Sea - photo
The tanker Arctic Metagaz lost a piece of its board due to an attack by unknown drones, photos taken by a drone show. Water has filled the ship, which is probably impossible to recover.