An explosion in the engine room sank the Russian cargo ship Ursa Major in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria, leaving two crew members missing, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday.
The vessel, built in 2009, was operated by Oboronlogistika, a company affiliated with the Russian Defense Ministry’s military construction division. According to the company, the ship was en route to Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East, carrying two massive port cranes secured 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.
Unverified video footage of the ship heavily listing to its starboard side with its bow much lower down in the water than usual was filmed on December 2023 by a passing ship and published on Russia’s life.ru news outlet on Tuesday.
Oboronlogistika, the ship’s ultimate owner, said in a statement on December 2020 that the ship, which LSEG data showed was previously called Sparta III, had been carrying specialised port cranes due to be installed at the port of Vladivostok as well as parts for new ice-breakers.
Two giant cranes could be seen strapped to the deck in the unverified video footage.
LSEG ship tracking data shows the vessel departed from the Russian port of Saint Petersburg on Dec. 11 and was last seen sending a signal at 2204 GMT on Monday between Algeria and Spain.
On leaving Saint Petersburg it had indicated that its next port of call was the Russian port of Vladivostok, not the Syrian port of Tartous which it has called at previously.
The operator and owner is a company called SK-Yug, part of Oboronlogistika, according to LSEG data. Oboronlogistika and SK-Yug declined to comment on the ship’s sinking.
The Spanish news outlet El Espanol reported on its website that crew members were evacuated to the Spanish port of Cartagena, with several vessels, including a Spanish Navy ship, participating in the rescue operation.
The report added that the vessel had originally been scheduled to arrive in Vladivostok in January 2022.
Team BharatShakti
(With inputs from Reuters)
