Ursa Major: Russian cargo ship sinks in Mediterranean after engine room explosion, Moscow says

CNN
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An explosion sank a sanctioned Russian cargo ship in the Mediterranean on Monday night, Russian authorities said, leaving two crew members missing.

The Crisis Center of the Russian Foreign Ministry said the vessel, Ursa Major, sank south of Spain after an explosion in the engine room. It traveled through the Mediterranean after crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, the narrow stretch of sea between Europe and Africa.

The ministry said 14 crew members were rescued and taken to a Spanish port, but two were not named.

Ursa Major is the flagship owned by Oboronlogistika, a shipping company that moves cargo for Russia’s Ministry of Defense.

The company was sanctioned by the US State Department in 2022.

Spain’s Maritime Rescue Agency confirmed the vessel had sunk and warned ships in the area of ​​”the possibility of wreckage” and urged them to “keep a sharp lookout, keep a wide berth” and report any sightings to the authorities.

Oboronlogistika said i a press release on Friday that the vessel, formerly known as the Sparta, was bound for Vladivostok in Russia’s far east, carrying two large cranes to be used to develop port infrastructure there.

But Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate, GUR, claimed on social media on Monday morning – hours before the vessel sank – that the ship was on its way to Syria and had already encountered problems on its journey,

Kyiv’s intelligence service claimed that the ship had broken down off the coast of Portugal, but that the crew had resolved the issue and continued their journey.

Video filmed on Monday, shared on Russian social media channels and verified by CNN, showed a vessel matching the appearance of the listed Ursa Major, with cranes visible on the ship.

The agency said Russia sent the ship to move its weapons and equipment out of Syria, where Russia still controls a port facility at Tartus, following the ouster of Moscow ally and former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Last week, two U.S. officials and a Western official familiar with the intelligence told CNN that Russia had begun withdrawing a large amount of military equipment and troops from Syria.

The US State Department says Oboronlogistika’s main goal is to “guarantee the needs of the Russian Ministry of Defense in terms of transportation, storage and production of military and special goods.”

Earlier this month, two Russian tankers carrying thousands of tons of fuel were badly damaged in stormy weather near the Black Sea, leading to an oil spill.