Chigi: we are coordinating with Malta on the monitoring of the Russian oil tanker

‘Given that the vessel is currently within the Maltese SAR zone, and that the Maltese authorities have established a minimum safety distance of 5 nautical miles, the Italian Government has assured the Government in Valletta that it is sharing the monitoring data collected from the very outset’. This was stated in a note from Palazzo Chigi following the summit, chaired by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, on the “situation of the LNG Arctic Metagaz, a Russian-flagged vessel carrying substantial quantities of gas, heavy oil and diesel, which has been adrift, without a crew, in the Mediterranean Sea for several days”. ‘Italy,’ it is explained, ‘has also confirmed its willingness to provide support, pending the decisions of the Maltese authorities, with whom it remains in constant contact.’