US-sanctioned Russian ship sinks in Mediterranean after explosion

ONE US-sanctioned Russian cargo ship sank in Mediterranean Sea The sea overnight after an explosion tore through the engine room, Russia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed.

Two members of Ursa Major are still missing after 14 crew members were rescued and brought to Spain on Tuesday morning following the explosion.

Video footage showed the 466ft ship swaying heavily with its stern much lower in the water as it passed between Spain and Algeria.

The boat’s operator Oboronlogistika – which was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in 2022 for links to the Russian military – previously said it was heading to the Russian port of Vladivostok by cranes.

However, the company has not commented on the explosion. The Russian Foreign Ministry has not disclosed what caused the explosion in the engine room.

Russia’s embassy in Spain was quoted by state news agency RIA as saying it was investigating the circumstances of the sinking and was in contact with authorities in Spain.

The ship left St. Petersburg on Dec. 11 and was last seen sending a signal around 10 p.m. Monday between Algeria and Spain, where it sank, according to ship tracking data.

It was in the same area of ​​the Mediterranean as another sanctioned Russian ship, the Sparta, when it ran into trouble, and the two ships had been seen heading through the English Channel last week, reportedly under escort.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) reported that Sparta was on its way to Russia’s naval base on the Syrian coast at Tartous to move military equipment out of Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

A Kremlin official said Monday that Russia was in contact with Syria’s new rulers about the future of its two military facilities, both diplomatically and militarily.

Ursa Major’s owner Oboronlogistika has previously been heavily involved in the transport of goods to Tartous, Syria.

Syrian bases and the port of Tartus have become critical to Moscow’s operations in the Mediterranean and Africa, and Assad’s fall has given the Kremlin an intense logistical headache.

Russian operations in countries such as Libya, Mali, the Central African Republic and Burkina Faso have relied heavily on the port and Khmeimim air base as a staging post and refueling stop.