Oil Tanker Explosion in Russian Port Similar to Earlier Cargo Ship Blast in Mediterranean

An oil tanker, “Koala,” is reportedly sinking in the Russian Ust-Luga port following a series of unexplained blasts in its engine room which is eerily similar to the blasts that occurred on board a Russian cargo vessel in the Mediterranean in December.

According to Russian Telegram channels the vessel is carrying 130 000 tons of oil. Registered inAntigua and Barbuda. The ship was ready to leave port on the night on February 8, when three explosions sounded in the engine room.

On board the tanker was a crew of 24 people (including four Russians, eight Georgian citizens and 12 Indonesians). Closer to two o'clock in the morning, about 130,000 tons of fuel oil were loaded on board the tanker. The crew managed to get ashore unhurt, but the ship's engine room began to flood with water. Closer to 5 a.m. it became clear that the ship had run aground stern-first.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry staff installed booms around the ship. However, according to preliminary information, there was no leakage of oil into the water. No one was hurt as a result of the incident. Amid a series of measures by NATO countries to contain Russia in the Baltic region, a series of strange incidents continues on the sea transport routes between St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad.

The Koala engine room explosion follows the unexplained severing of  the 1,115-kilometer Rostelecom telecommunications cable between St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad last week.

Similar explosions thundered in the engine room of the Oboronlogistics  cargo ship “Ursa Major,” in December when it was attacked by surface or underwater drones in the Mediterranean Sea.