Cairo, March 04 (QNA) - The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has denied any connection with the Russian LNG tanker that sank off the Libyan coast.

This tanker had not been heading to any of the Egyptian ports, as it is not listed within any LNG importation contracts to Egypt, the Ministry clarified in a statement.

Earlier Wednesday, the Libyan Ports and Maritime Transport Authority (LALA) announced the sinking of a Russian LNG tanker in the Mediterranean Sea after being detonated, with an ensuing massive fire within the waters between Libya and Malta.

In a navigational notice, LALA stated that the tanker named Arctic Metagaz was en route from Murmansk, Russia, to Port Said, Egypt.

It noted that the tanker, almost 277 meters long and carrying a cargo of about 62,000 metric tons of LNG, sank roughly 130 nautical miles north of the port of Sirte, in north-central Libya. (QNA)