Russia says cargo ship sinks in Mediterranean after blast, 2 missing
The ship, Ursa Major, owned by Oboronlogistika, was carrying two giant port cranes and was en route to Vladivostok
An engine room explosion sank a Russian cargo ship called Ursa Major in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria, and two of its crew are missing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
The vessel, built in 2009, was controlled by Oboronlogistika, a company that is part of the Russian Defence Ministry’s military construction operations, which had previously said it was en route to the Russian far eastern port of Vladivostok with two giant port cranes lashed to its deck.
The Foreign Ministry’s crisis centre said in a statement that 14 of the ship’s 16 crew members had been rescued and brought to Spain, but that two crew were still missing. It did not say what had caused the engine room explosion.
Russia’s embassy in Spain was cited by the state RIA news agency as saying it was looking into the circumstances of the sinking and was in touch with the authorities in Spain.
Oboronlogistika and SK-Yug, a company that maritime freight and shipping data company LSEG lists as part of the group and the ship’s direct owner and operator, declined to comment on the sinking. Both entities were placed under sanctions by the United States in 2022 for their ties to Russia’s military, as was the Ursa Major itself.
Unverified video footage of the ship heavily to its starboard side with its bow much lower down in the water than usual was filmed on December 23 by a passing ship and published on Russia’s life.ru news outlet on Tuesday.
