The signal was transmitted at 12:38 UTC from coordinates 56°18′ north, 15°25′ west, the SeaNews maritime monitoring project reported. The UK Coastguard coordinated the response and asked nearby vessels to contact it if they could assist. A Royal Air Force aircraft later established contact with the MYRA.
The crew said the signal had been activated as the ship left an area of heavy seas, and after assessing the situation the vessel continued on its way, according to the coastguard. There were 21 people on board. The reason for the distress call is not yet known, and there is no confirmed information about damage to the ship, the nature of its cargo or any possible oil products leak.
SeaNews put wave heights in the area at up to 8.8 metres and wind gusts at about 130 km/h. Despite the extreme weather, the vessel kept moving at about nine knots (roughly 17 km/h). The Starboard monitoring system shows a lower wind speed of 45.6 km/h at 16:20 on 24 October. The Insider noted that the figures do not necessarily contradict each other: Starboard may display sustained speed while SeaNews reports peak gusts.
According to Starboard data, the MYRA travelled from the Baltic Sea through the North Sea, rounded the northern tip of the UK and entered the Atlantic without passing through the English Channel. Other tankers in Russia's shadow fleet take the same route, The Insider wrote. Whether it was chosen to evade controls by European states is unknown.
The MYRA was built in 2006. It is 228 metres long, with a deadweight of 74,999 tonnes and a gross tonnage of 41,021. Its registered owner is listed as Fleet Armada Pvt Ltd. The GISIS database records the flag as "Cameroon False" — indicating the suspected use of a false Cameroonian flag.
The tanker is under sanctions from six jurisdictions. The United States imposed restrictions on 30 July 2025, the European Union on 24 October 2025, and Switzerland and Ukraine on 13 December 2025. The United Kingdom added the vessel to its list on 24 February 2026, and Canada on 25 March.
According to Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR), the MYRA was used to export Russian oil and oil products to third countries in circumvention of the G7 and EU embargo. The GUR links the vessel to UAE-registered Fractal Marine DMCC, which in early 2023 was among the three largest operators of Russian oil and oil products shipments. The UK imposed sanctions on the company in February 2024. According to the intelligence service, the MYRA repeatedly called at Ust-Luga and Primorsk and also visited ports in Turkey, Brazil, Senegal, Estonia and Denmark.
The GUR claims the tanker belongs to the shipping network of Mohammed Hossein Shamkhani, son of Ali Shamkhani, former secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and an adviser to the country's supreme leader. According to the intelligence service, the younger Shamkhani controls a network of tankers and shell companies that transport Russian and Iranian oil, including for supplies to China.