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External explosive device likely caused blast

An external explosive device most likely caused the blast that damaged the 'Vilamoura' off the Libyan coast, the vessel’s Greece-based operator TMS Tankers said on July 6, citing an initial investigation. The tanker had left the Libyan port of Zuetina on June 27 headef to Gibraltar with one million barrels of oil when there was an explosion in the engine room. "Preliminary investigation findings clearly indicate that the explosion, the resulting fracture of the side shell plating, and the flooding of the engine room were caused by an external source —an unidentified explosive device,” TMS Tankers said.

Damaged tanker claimed to be part of Russian Ghost Fleet

Ukraine claims that the 'Vilamoura' is linked to Russia's Ghost Fleet, used to circumvent Western sanctions. According to Ukrainian military intelligence, the vessel was carrying more than one million barrels of crude oil, when it was seriously damaged by an explosion off the coast of Libya on June 27. The vessel was located nearly 150 kilometers northeast of the Libyan coast in the Mediterranean Sea at the time. According to Ukrainian intelligence services, the Vilamoura is owned by the Greek company TMS Tanker Limited and has repeatedly transported cargo from Russian ports. The explosion caused the engine room to flood due to water intake, although the cause of the explosion remained unclear. The explosion was only reported on June 30, and the tanker is currently being towed towards the Gulf of Laconia, where it is scheduled for inspection and repair. The incident came as a series of unexplained explosions on oil tankers calling at Russian ports. In response, shipowners have begun inspecting their vessels for mines using divers and underwater drones. According to Ukrainian intelligence, the Russian ghost fleet now numbers nearly 1,000 vessels, with a total tonnage of over 100 million tons. These cargo ships reportedly regularly change flags, disable their tracking systems, and sail with limited assurances, in order to conceal their activities and continue the illegal export of Russian oil.

Explosion heavily damaged tanker which previously had called at Russian ports

The 'Vilamoura' has been crippled by an engine room explosion about 12 hours after leaving the port of Zueitina on June 27, 2025., having loaded one million barrels of crude oil, bound for Gibraltar. The tanker suffered a large breach in the explosion, and the engine room was flooded. The suezmax tanker intially was believed to have become the victim of a limpet mine attac, but photos showed several shrapnel holes in the deck, leaving doubts regarding the mine theory. The blast left the suezmax, operated by George Economou’s TMS Tankers taking on water and unable to manoeuvre 90 nautical miles off the Libyan coast. The tanker was last reported NUC on June 29 in pos. 33° 38' N 019° 40' E. On June 28 at around 09:17 a.m. UTC, the fire-fighting tug 'Boka Summit' (IMO: 9315575) arrived to provide assistance to the tanker, which could be stabilised. The two vessels were now underway in the Eastern Mediterranean at reduced speed, headed tothe Peloponnese region of Greece to remove the cargo in a ship-to-ship transfer with an ETA as of July 1-2. The tanker then will also become the subject of a forensic security investigation. The operator George Economou’s TMS Tankers confirmed the incident on June 30. Since April, the 'Vilamoura' had made at least two voyages to Russian oil terminals, including Ust-Luga on April 30, and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal near Novorossiysk, to load Kazakh oil. Since the begining of this, year four other ships have exploded under similar circumstances. This concerned the Malta-flagged 'Seajewel' (IMO: 9388807), the Marshall Islands-flagged 'Seacharm' (IMO: 9773765), the Liberia-flagged 'Grace Ferrum' (IMO: 9667928), and the Antigua-Barbuda-flagged 'Koala' (IMO: 9234642). All these tankers had all called at Russian ports prior to being hit with an explosion. Report with photos: https://www.lloydslist.com/LL1154049/Fear-and-speculation-mount-after-another-tanker-is-hit-by-unexplained-blast