An oil tanker exploded near Libya — it had recently entered a Russian port

The Vilamoura tanker, carrying a million barrels of oil, exploded near Libya. The vessel had previously entered a Russian port.

Bloomberg writes about this.

According to a spokesman for TMS Tankers, the explosion caused water to enter the vessel, flooding the engine room. It is currently being towed to Greece, where an assessment of the damage will be carried out. There was no oil spill as a result of the explosion, and the cause of the incident is still unknown.

In recent months, there have been a series of explosions on oil tankers that had previously called at Russian ports. In the aftermath, shipowners have begun checking their ships’ hulls for mines, using divers and underwater vehicles. The Vilamoura has visited Russian oil terminals twice since April to load Kazakh oil.

In April, the Vilamoura called at the Russian port of Ust-Luga, where it loaded oil of Kazakh origin. In May, the tanker also arrived at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal near the Russian port of Novorossiysk, which also mainly handles Kazakh barrels.

According to Vanguard Tech, a maritime risk consultancy, four more ships have exploded since the beginning of the year, all of which had recently called at Russian ports.

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