A mysterious blast struck a tanker carrying 1 million barrels of oil near Libya, and the vessel is now being towed to Greece for damage assessment, according to Bloomberg, citing a statement from the ship's manager. The incident comes amid growing concerns about attacks on commercial vessels navigating highly contested waters, including the Strait of Hormuz and other key shipping lanes.
The Vilamoura suffered a severe explosion that appears to have led to significant water intake, flooding the tanker's engine room. The exact cause of the blast—and whether it originated inside or outside the ship—remains unclear.
Interestingly, Bloomberg compiled ship-tracking data on the Vilamoura's recent sails, revealing that the tanker visited the Russian port of Ust-Luga in early April, where it loaded Kazakh-origin barrels. It also had a port calling at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal near the Russian port of Novorossiysk in May, which primarily handles Kazakh oil.
The explosion remains suspicious given the tanker's recent routes and raises the possibility of a covert allied special forces operation aimed at paralyzing the tanker known for hauling Russian crude. While purely speculative at this stage, the theory is not entirely far-fetched given the ongoing war in Ukraine as European maritime authorities prepare to launch a formal investigation into the incident.
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