What happened on board the “Ursa Major”? This Russian cargo ship sailing in the Mediterranean Sea sank in international waters, the Kremlin confirmed on Tuesday, adding that two sailors were missing. But the circumstances of this sinking remain unclear. We take stock.
An explosion or a shipwreck due to the weather?
That's the big question. It all starts on the night of Monday to Tuesday. According to Spanish sea rescue services, Ursa Major “issued an alert call” on the night of Monday to Tuesday, about 105 km from the coast of the Spanish city of Almeria, against the backdrop of “bad weather conditions”.
For his part, Russian diplomacy evokes “an explosion in its engine room” without specifying its origin.
Another disturbing element: a section of the Russian Investigative Committee, the body responsible for the main investigations in the country, announced on Tuesday the opening ofan investigation for “violation of security rules” maritime transport, without further details. Translation: the origin of this explosion is potentially due to third-party intervention.
What human toll?
16 crew members, all Russian nationals, were on board the “Ursa Major” at the time of its sinking.
Fourteen sailors were rescued and taken to the Spanish port of Cartagena and “two are missing”specified Russian diplomacy.
Spanish boats were dispatched to take care of the 14 survivors, before a Russian warship took over rescue operations, according to Spanish rescue services.
What is this cargo?
The cargo ship is the largest vessel of the Oboronloguistika company, which reports to the Russian Defense Ministry and also provides civilian transportation and logistics services.
The “Ursa Major” and its owner company were placed under American sanctions in May 2022, after the start of the Russian assault in Ukraine, according to a press release from the State Department.
Oboronloguistika “meets the needs of the Russian Ministry of Defense for the transportation, storage and production of military and special-purpose goods”, according to this same source.
What was the freighter's load?
According to Oboronloguistika, Ursa Major was transporting harbor cranes and hatch covers for icebreakers to Vladivostok (Russian Far East).
Containers had also been placed on her lower deck as “dead weight”in order to“ensure the stability of the boat”the company said in a press release.
Spanish sea rescue officials, citing survivors' accounts, said the boat was carrying empty containers in the hold and two cranes on deck.
Where was the cargo ship going?
The cargo ship left the city of Saint Petersburg (northwest Russia) on December 11 and was scheduled to arrive in Vladivostok on January 22, according to the MarineTraffic.com website.
But according to Ukrainian secret services, the cargo ship was heading to Syria in order to evacuate “weapons and equipment”according to the GUR.
Moscow has two military bases in Syria, the naval base of Tartous and the military airfield of Hmeimim. These infrastructures are key because they allow Russia to carry out operations in the Middle East, in the Mediterranean basin and as far as Africa.