The cargo ship Ursa Major sank in the Mediterranean after an explosion occurred in the engine room, and two crew members are missing.
The explosion that led to the sinking of the Russian ship occurred on Monday around 12:30 near the Strait of Gibraltar, as reported by the Spanish publication La Verdad.
The Spanish maritime rescue service transported 14 crew members to the port of Cartagena, but two people remain missing.
The area where the incident occurred was subsequently marked as dangerous for maritime transport until a Russian military ship arrived to oversee the rescue efforts.
Several fishing vessels operating nearby initially assisted in the rescue operation. Later, they were joined by specialists from the Spanish maritime rescue service, as reported by the publication.
The cause of the explosion on Ursa Major is unknown, but a video recording shared on social media shows the damaged Russian ship significantly tilted to one side.
Officially, Ursa Major was in transit from St. Petersburg, Russia to Vladivostok. The ship began its journey on December 11 and was scheduled to arrive on January 22. The ship's captain claimed they were carrying empty containers at the time of the accident.
However, the Russian publication Mediazona, citing OSINT analysts, reported that five Russian cargo ships, including three large military landing ships and two cargo ships owned by the company Oboronlogistika, recently entered the Mediterranean Sea.
In fact, analysts say the ship was supposed to reach Tartus, Syria, where Russia has a military base. According to them, Ursa Major and four other Russian cargo vessels were involved in the evacuation operation of Russian bases in Tartus and Khmeimim, Syria.
Ursa Major was built in 2009 and was placed under Western sanctions after Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, due to the role of the ship's owner in delivering goods to the Russian army.
Oboronlogistika announced that the cargo ship, described as the flagship of its fleet, was carrying 45-ton hatch covers for icebreakers, as well as large cranes for the port of Vladivostok.
On December 23, the Ukrainian Army Intelligence Service (GUR) announced that a cargo ship, Sparta, sent by Russia to evacuate its military equipment and weapons from Syria, experienced a malfunction near Portugal, but the technical issue was resolved. Ursa Major was also known as Sparta III, so it was not clear which ship GUR was referring to, as noted by BBC.
T.D.