He Russian merchant ship ‘Ursa Major’which is sank on Monday in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea, between Spain and Algeriawas part of a secret mission of the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, reports this Tuesday the British newspaper ‘The Sun’.
The purpose of the vessel’s journey is unclear, but Ukrainian and Spanish intelligence sources suggest it was headed to Syria to remove equipment of that country after the recent fall of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assadadds the newspaper.
Two of its crew are missing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. The ship sank after a burst in the engine room y 14 of its 16 crew members of sido rescued and transferred to Spain, according to the Ministry in a statement.
On December 23, a ship passing through the area recorded an unverified video of the ship listing to starboard and with its bow much lower than usual, which was published on Tuesday by the Russian media life.ru. LSEG ship tracking data shows that the ship departed from the Russian port of Saint Petersburg on December 11 and was last seen sending a signal at 2204 GMT on Monday between Algeria and Spain.
When leaving Saint Petersburg had indicated that his next port of call was Russian port of Vladivostokand not the Syrian port of Tartous where it had previously stopped.
port cranes
The operator and owner is the empresa SK-Yugwhich is part of Oboronlogistics, according to LSEG data. Oboronlogistics and SK-Yug declined to comment on the sinking of the vessel.
Oboronlogistics stated on December 20 that the ship was carrying specialized harbor cranes that were to be installed in the port of Vladivostok, as well as parts for new icebreakers.
The Spanish authorities have detailed that at 12:15 p.m. this Monday, the alert was received from the cargo ship on the accident location radio beacon when it was sailing in international waters, 62 nautical miles (115 kilometers) between the Algerian coast. of Oran and Águilas, in a rescue zone belonging to Spain.
rescue operation
Following international protocol, from the center of Maritime Rescue (Sasemar) The nearest ship, the merchant Oslo Carrier II, was told to go to the vicinity of the Ursa Major to see what had happened and found that it had suffered an explosion in the machinery area, so the operation was launched. rescue to evacuate the crew.
The Sasemar Salvamar vessels ‘Draco’ and ‘Clara Campoamor’ and the Serviola Navy patrol boat were mobilized to escort the second rescue ship, which evacuated 14 of the 16 crew members who were on board the cargo ship.
A ship from the Russian Navywhich requested to take charge of the rescue operation based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which control of the rescue work was transferred. This agreement states that if it is not in jurisdictional waters, a ship flying its flag can take charge of rescuing another ship from its country.
Repatriation to Russia
The evacuated personnel arrived at midnight Cartagena and was attended by Red Crosswhich confirmed that they were in good condition, according to sources from Murcia’s 112, which activated the health care device. Once on land, the merchant shipping company took care of them until the consulate and embassy repatriation a Russia.
The ‘Clara Campoamor’ remains in the area to control any possible episode of marine pollution that could occur.
