Sailor Aboard LPG Carrier Gas Lisbon Dies of His Wounds

A sailor injured in the fire aboard the LPG carrier Gas Lisbon has died of his wounds, according to Romanian authorities.

Gas Lisbon was inbound for Ukraine last Sunday when she was likely struck by multiple Russian drones. The Turkish-owned vessel was arriving from Egypt and reporting her destination as Reni, Ukraine, with about 3,800 tonnes of propane on board.

On Sunday evening, while Gas Lisbon was about 20 nautical miles off the Romanian coast, the vessel reported an explosion and fire. The Romanian rescue vessels Apollo and Artemis were dispatched to meet her, and they retrieved 17 crewmembers from the ship, including three who were injured and required hospital treatment. Two of them had received severe burns covering about 10-15 percent of their bodies.

The survivors were brought ashore in Romania, and the injured were transferred to the Tulcea County Hospital for treatment. On Thursday, one of the victims - a 45-year-old Filipino sailor - died of complications related to burns to his respiratory tract. Two more of the injured survivors remain in intensive care, and are in stable condition, the hospital's director told RFI.

The fire aboard Gas Lisbon reportedly burned for an extended period after evacuation. Even as late as Wednesday, the ship was still too hot to board for inspection, according to AFP.

The attack on Gas Lisbon is just one part of a broader campaign of strikes and counterstrikes between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the Black Sea, which has turned deadly for seafarers. The intensity of Russian attacks on international shipping has risen enough that foreign-flag shipowners have effectively ceased port calls in the Odesa region, where Ukraine's main seaports are located - a major blow for Ukrainian agricultural exporters.