A Russian cargo ship Ursa Majorsank on Monday in the Mediterranean Sea, at a point between Spain and Algeria. Two of its crew are missing, as reported this Tuesday by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to the British tabloid was part of a secret mission by the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin.
The purpose of the trip of the 142-meter-long and 23-meter-wide vessel would not be clear, but Ukrainian and Spanish intelligence sources suggest that it was heading to Syria to remove equipment from that country after the recent fall of Syrian dictator Baschar al-Assad. , according to said British media.
The ship sank after an explosion occurred in its engine room and 14 of its 16 crew members have been rescued and transferred to Spain, according to the ministry in a statement. The Foreign Ministry’s crisis center has not specified what caused the explosion in the engine room.
Image of the Russian cargo ship ‘Ursa Major’ sunk in the Mediterranean, circulating on social networks.
What is known about ‘Ursa Major’?
The ship, built in 2009, was controlled by Oboronlogistika, a company that is part of the Russian Defense Ministry’s military construction operations, which had previously said it was heading to the port of Vladivostok, in Russia’s far east, with two giant port cranes tied to its deck, according to Reuters.
The Russian embassy in Spain reported – cited by the state news agency RIA – that it was investigating the circumstances under which the sinking occurred and that it maintains contact with the Spanish authorities.
Oboronlogistika and SK-Yug, a company that LSEG lists as part of the group and the direct owner and operator of the ship, declined to comment on the sinking. Both entities were sanctioned by the United States in 2022 for their links with the Russian army, as was the United States itself. Ursa Major .
The video with the boat tilted
An unverified video of the ship leaning heavily to starboard with its bow much lower in the water than usual was filmed on December 23 by a passing ship and published on the Russian news outlet Life.ru.
Oboronlogistika, the final owner of the ship, stated in a statement dated December 20 that the ship, which according to LSEG data was previously called Sparta III among other names, and which carried specialized port cranes that would be installed in the port of Vladivostok, as well as parts for new icebreakers.
Where did it sail from and where was it going?
The Ursa Major was operated through a subsidiary of the ‘Oboronlogistika’ company that had been designated by the Russian Government as the sole service provider of the Russian Ministry of Defense for the transport of cargo to Crimea, the Arctic and the Far East of the country.
LSEG ship tracking data shows that the vessel departed the Russian port of St. Petersburg on December 11 and was last seen sending a signal at 22:04 GMT on Monday between Algeria and Spain, where it sank.
Upon leaving St. Petersburg he had indicated that his next port of call was the Russian port of Vladivostok, not the Syrian port of Tartous, where he had previously called. The ship was due to arrive in Vladivostok on January 22.
