Boarding from large port cranes in St. Petersburg to carry them to Vladivostokthat is, across thousands of nautical miles, from one end of Eurasia to the other, when it is easier, cheaper and more logical to assemble – or build – the cranes on site than to transport them… The official version that has emerged about the cargo and destination of the Russian cargo ship Ursa Major, sunk on the 23rd in the Mediterranean 62 miles from Águilas (Murcia), has raised suspicions among the Navy sources consulted by this newspaper, who are following the incident with total skepticism.
In principle, the Ursa Major carried from the Baltic port to the Siberian port, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, two deck hatches for the reactor of a nuclear icebreaker which is built in the Vladivostok shipyards, and also the aforementioned large cranes, which are used for stacking heavy material on the docks.
The burden of the Ursa Major now rests at the bottom of the Mediterranean, halfway between Spain and Algeriaand no other version of the 14 crew that Salvamento Marítimo took to Cartagena: the destination, the Russian version maintains, was Vladivostok, where they were to arrive on January 22.
From Syria to Africa
Expert senior Navy officials believe that is only part of the truth, a version that may be true for the icebreaker’s hatches, but not so much for the cranes. A first speculation about his true destiny, and also originating among Spanish soldiers, spread at Christmas: The cranes could go to Syria, where Russia would try to recover military material after the fall of the Al Assad regime and the gradual loss of control over its Tartus naval base.
Now, in the suspicion of the sources consulted This destination is not valued for the cranes, but another one closer to Spain: the Libyan naval base of Tobruk. Without Tartus, Russia has two naval docks left on the African continent, but only Tobruk is in the Mediterranean: the other, Port Sudan, is in the Red Sea. The two ports are now reference enclaves for logistical support to the Russian presence in the northern half of the African continentan immense territory where the Kremlin maintains air bases in Libya, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.
The Russian cruise ship Varyag, moored in Tobruk last June. Libyan Navy / Libyan Navy
Libya has become node distribution of supplies for troops of the Russian Federation on the African continent. Tobruk, according to various reports from Western strategic analysis agencies, has been receiving visits from Russian cargo and escort flotillas at an increasing rate this year. Last June, they docked at the Libyan base the cruiser Varyag and the frigate Admiral Shbashnikov. He opened the door for them Marshal and Libyan warlord Khalifa Belkacem Haftar.
Uncontrollable water leak
The Russian cargo ship has been sunk for four days without any other certainty than the most basic one being imposed regarding the incident: the Ursa Major suffered “a uncontrollable water leak below the starboard aft waterline”, as summarized by one of the sources consulted in the Navy. If it was after one, two or three explosions in the engine room or in its vicinity is a matter that must be clarified by Moscow.
The Russian firm SK-Yug, owner of the ship and supplier to the Russian defense industryhas denounced the incident as a terrorist attack. This version is quarantined in Spain considering the fact that, in war against Ukraine, the Kremlin and its orbit usually blame its enemy any fact that could be used as war propagandaregardless of its veracity.
The sinking took place in a rescue area that corresponds to Spain, but in waters that are internationaland not of Spanish sovereignty. Due to that location, the Russian navy invoked the Law of the Sea – included in the United Nations convention UNCLOS – to take charge of the rescue. This was already in charge of Russian naval units that followed the freighter, although, at midnight from December 23 to 24, the Salvamar Draco had already evacuated 14 of the 16 crew members of the ship; the remaining two are presumed dead.
No evidence of attack
Interior sources indicate that There is nothing in the Maritime Rescue report that supports the thesis of the attack against the freighter. It is not done either mention of any aggression in the report of Serviola class patrol boat that the Navy had sent to follow the Russian delegation as it passes through waters of interest to Spain, they say in the Navy.
The Civil Guard is not investigating a case of terrorism in the accident of the Russian freighter, sources from the armed institute clarify. In fact, it does not carry out investigations into the sinking because, since it occurred in international waters, they are not the responsibility of the Spanish Security Forces but of the country that flags the vessel, that is, Russia.
The Civil Guard has opened prevention proceedings and has made them available to the court that was on duty in Cartagena. The Spanish agents have transferred to the judicial authority the list of crew members provided by the ship’s captainthe affiliation and complete documentation of the 14 who arrived at port in Spain and received initial help from the Red Cross. This list is provided to the judge in case a foreign court requests it in a request.
The list, however, also has interest for military intelligence that is shared in NATO: it is a trusted crew of the Russian navy, which was in charge of transporting military material through waters of great importance for the Kremlin’s deployment in Africa.
