Unlock the Editor’s Digest totally free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly e-newsletter.
Russian authorities are investigating a sixth suspected explosion this 12 months on a tanker serving a Russian port after an ammonia leak linked to an obvious explosion on a gasoline tanker on the Baltic port of Ust-Luga on Sunday.
The incident on the Eco Wizard, owned by Greece’s StealthGas, got here 9 days after a blast on the Greek-owned crude oil tanker Vilamoura within the Mediterranean.
There was hypothesis that the explosions are linked to Ukraine, though the Ukrainian authorities have declined to remark and there are rival theories, together with hyperlinks between lots of the affected vessels and Libya.
The Vilamoura’s homeowners revealed in an announcement on Sunday that examination of the vessel in port in Piraeus had confirmed the vessel was broken by an exterior supply, which it described as an “unidentified explosive gadget”.
All however one of many explosions have affected vessels owned by Greek and Cypriot shipowners not beneath sanctions. One of many vessels — the Koala, a crude oil tanker broken in a blast in Ust-Luga in February — was positioned beneath EU sanctions for the improper transportation of Russian oil in Might.
An announcement printed on the Russian transport ministry’s Telegram channel on Sunday mentioned there had been a “minor ammonia leak” on July 6 on account of an “incident throughout loading and unloading operations on the tanker Eco Wizard”. The assertion mentioned the 23 crew members left the ship safely, that no accidents had been reported, and emergency companies had been working to comprise the aftermath.
It additionally mentioned that an “emergency assembly” was held on the transport ministry, chaired by minister Roman Starovoyt, who was dismissed on Monday by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov mentioned the decree didn’t point out a lack of confidence as the rationale for his dismissal.
There have been reviews that the ammonia leak was a results of an explosion, together with on a number of Russian Telegram channels with ties to regulation enforcement. The trigger stays unknown, though one safety professional mentioned the harm gave the impression to be to the vessel’s engine room, suggesting it was not a results of an issue with the cargo.
There was no reply to requests for remark despatched on Sunday to StealthGas and to one in all its senior executives
Whereas a lot of the controversy round Russia’s continued oil commerce surrounds vessels within the “darkish fleet” of vessels with unsure possession, this 12 months’s obvious explosions have largely affected vessels owned by mainstream homeowners.
StealthGas is listed on the US’s Nasdaq inventory alternate.
All the vessels hit have picked up cargoes from Russian ports, though the general public data obtainable reveals they collected cargoes not coated by sanctions on Russia, reminiscent of oil from Kazakhstan.
Ammonia, the cargo that the Eco Wizard was loading, shouldn’t be affected by sanctions on Russian oil. The Eco Wizard is the primary gasoline tanker to be hit. The opposite explosions have all been on crude oil or oil product tankers.
The safety professional mentioned the incident was “virtually definitely” a results of an assault and prompt a “commando-style raid deep into Russian territory”.
He added that it prompt these accountable had been rejecting the concept there may very well be any official commerce with Russia.
The GUR, the Ukrainian navy intelligence directorate, which some observers have prompt may very well be concerned, declined to remark. The company has carried out quite a few audacious operations deep inside Russia and Russian-controlled elements of Ukraine all through the warfare, together with a number of for which it has claimed credit score. However there isn’t a proof to tie it to those ship explosions.