MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian cargo ship “Ursa Major” sank in the Mediterranean between Spain and Algeria following an explosion in the engine room and two sailors are missing, the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday. Foreign Affairs.
Fourteen sailors, out of the 16 crew members on board the ship, were rescued and brought back to Spain, the crisis center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The cause of the explosion was not specified.
According to ship tracking data from LSEG, the vessel left the Russian port of St. Petersburg on December 11 and was last identified sending a signal at 22:04 GMT on Monday, between Algeria and the 'Spain.
When leaving St. Petersburg, the cargo ship had indicated that its next port of call was the Russian port of Vladivostok, and not the Syrian port of Tartous where it called.
The ship's operator and owner is a company called SK-Yug, which is part of Oboronlogistics, a group that participates in the Russian Defense Ministry's military construction operations, according to LSEG data.
Both companies, which declined to comment, were placed under sanctions by the United States in 2022 due to their ties to the Russian military, as was the “Ursa Major” ship.
The Russian Embassy in Spain, cited by state news agency RIA, said it was examining the circumstances of the sinking and was in contact with Spanish authorities.
Oboronlogistika reported on December 20 that the ship, previously named Sparta III according to LSEG data, was carrying specialized cranes for installation in the port of Vladivostok, as well as parts for new icebreakers.
The El Español news site reported that the crew members were evacuated to the Spanish port of Cartagena and that several ships, including one from the Spanish navy, participated in the rescue.
The ship was due to arrive in Vladivostok on January 22, according to the Spanish media.
(Writing by Gleb Stolyarov and Andrew Osborn, French version Elena Smirnova, editing by Kate Entringer)
