Explosion in Lybia Knocks Out Oil Tanker Approaching Russian Ports

The Vilamoura oil tanker, carrying approximately 1 million barrels of crude, was disabled by an explosion off the coast of Libya, according to Bloomberg, citing a representative of the vessel’s owner.

The 158,000-deadweight-ton tanker experienced the incident in the central Mediterranean Sea. The crew reported an explosion on board that resulted in flooding of the engine room.

Fortunately, there was no environmental damage, and all crew members are safe. Vilamoura is currently being towed to Greece, where authorities will assess the extent of the damage and investigate the cause of the blast upon arrival.

The vessel had previously called at Russian ports twice this year — once in April at Ust-Luga and again in May at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal near Novorossiysk.

Explosions on Oil Tankers

In 2025, this marks the fifth tanker used for transporting oil from Russian ports to be hit by an explosion. The previous incidents involved:

• Seajewel (under the flag of Malta),
• Seacharm (under the flag of the Marshall Islands),
• Grace Ferrum (under the flag of Liberia),
• Kola (under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda).

Notably, three of these tankers were damaged by explosions in the Mediterranean Sea within the span of a single month.

One of the incidents occurred on February 15 at a port in northern Italy. The explosion caused a one-meter hole below the waterline on the hull of the Greek Seajewel oil tanker. Twenty minutes later, a second blast occurred, but it did not cause additional damage. At the time of the explosion, the vessel was anchored off the port of Savona-Vado.

Another explosion in late January damaged the Seacharm oil tanker, operated by the company Thenamaris. That incident took place near the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in Turkey.

A third case occurred in early February off the coast of Libya. The Liberian-flagged tanker Grace Ferrum, which was carrying chemicals and oil products, sustained damage.

According to Bloomberg, following the series of incidents, shipowners began inspecting the hulls of their vessels that had called at Russian ports for mines, using divers and underwater drones.

Sources report that at least one such inspection was carried out in Russia, while others were conducted at various locations around the world.