"CAIRO  — Libyan authorities were towing a Russian tanker drifting in the Mediterranean for the past three weeks, after the vessel was damaged in a suspected sea drone attack, officials said Tuesday.

The Arctic Metagaz is part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet transporting fossil fuels in violation of international sanctions over Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

Libya’s coast guard said that the tanker, which carries liquefied natural gas, was being towed to a safe zone off the town of Zuwara on Libya’s western coast.

A video posted on Tuesday by Libyan authorities showed a tugboat towing the slowly moving tanker with a thick rope. The tanker is seen tilting on one side, with a blackened hull from a fire."

Samy Magdy reports for the Associated Press March 24, 2026. [2]