Finland is monitoring a tanker that caught fire in the Russian port of Ust-Luga

On Sunday, February 9, an accident occurred on board the tanker Koala in the Russian port of Ust-Luga – the ship is likely part of the Russian shadow fleet.

The Koala is on the list of the Russian shadow fleet compiled by environmentalists from the organization Greenpeace. The list includes 192 ships, all of which are more than 15 years old. They do not have insurance to cover losses in the event of an accident, but at the time of compiling the list, the ships were not under sanctions.

According to Greenpeace, the Koala already had technical malfunctions. The crew also turned off the automatic identification system during a voyage through the Baltic Sea.

The tanker was carrying 130,000 tons of fuel oil at the time of the incident. The ship was preparing to leave the port when three powerful explosions were heard in its engine room – there were 24 crew members on board the tanker, they managed to leave the ship.

Later, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said that the country is closely monitoring the situation with the damage to the oil tanker in the port of Ust-Luga. According to Orpo, Finland has strengthened its oil spill response capabilities in connection with the incident.

“We are closely following the news about the damage to the oil tanker in the port of Ust-Luga. The Finnish authorities are helping to clarify the situation. Finland has increased its oil spill response capabilities,” the Finnish Prime Minister wrote.

Earlier, we reported that Russian submarine cables broke in the Baltic Sea.