The Libyan Ports and Maritime Transport Authority reported that a Russian liquefied gas (LNG), tanker allegedly damaged in a suspected 'Ukrainian attack on the Mediterranean, sprang free in a storm while being towed by a Libyan tugboat.

The authority stated in a navigational alert letter that "the tanker is out-of-control and the tugboat cannot return to retie it under these hazardous weather conditions."

According to the Tripoli-based authority, the towing operation, which was supposed to keep the ship from the coastal towns to the west of Tripoli's capital, failed due to the severe weather conditions.

The Russian flagged Arctic Metagaz was advised to keep at least 10 nautical mile distance from all ships and naval vessels.

The tanker was carrying LNG from the Arctic port of Murmansk in?Russia. It has been drifting since early March when?Russian Transport Ministry claimed that it had been hit by a?Ukrainian naval drone launched from Libya.

The incident has not been commented upon by either Ukraine or Libya.

Italy, France and Spain, as well as six other southern EU countries, wrote to the European Commission warning that the tanker was "imminently?and seriously posing a serious risk of an?ecological disaster".

Last week, Libya's coastguard began towing an abandoned tanker. (Reporting and editing by Jason Neely; Ahmed Elumami)

(source: Reuters)