The Ursa Major sank following an explosion in the engine room. 14 of the 16 crew members saved. Used by the Russian Defense and belonging to a sanctioned company, it was headed for Vladivostok. The incident raises questions about the future of Russian naval operations in the Mediterranean, with Moscow looking for a new stable port after the loss of Tartus in Syria
24/12/2024
The Russian cargo ship Ursa Major sank in the Mediterranean after an explosion in its engine room. This was confirmed by the crisis unit of the Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement cited by the Tass agency. “Fourteen of the 16 crew members (all Russian citizens) were rescued and taken to the port of Cartagena in the Spanish region of Murcia by the rescue service,” the statement said. The first hypothesis is that of a fault in the fuel pipe of the main engine.
The journey
The cargo ship left St. Petersburg 12 days ago and was headed to the port of Vladivostok, in the Russian Far East on the Pacific, where it should have arrived on January 22. The news site reports The Spanish. It was initially thought to be part of a convoy headed to Tartus, probably to support the withdrawal of Russian equipment from Syria. Several ships sailing in the area of the accident, between Spain and Algeria, participated in the rescue before the Spanish Maritime Rescue arrived.
Ties with the Defense
It is a merchant ship built in 2009, which would be used by the Russian authorities to also move soldiers through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits. The vessel belongs to a sanctioned Russian shipping company SK-South LLC, a subsidiary of the also sanctioned Russian company Oboronlogistika LLC, a shipping company of the Russian Ministry of Defense. In a statement on December 20, Oboronlogistika said the vessel was carrying specialized port cranes to be installed in Vladivostok and parts for new icebreakers.
The future of Russia in the Mediterranean
Russia is looking for a new stable port in Cyrenaica, eastern Libya, after the loss of Tartus in Syria, to manage its activities in the area, including paramilitary operations in Africa, such as those of Africa Corpus (formerly Wagner) . Just yesterday Yuri Ushakovthe Kremlin's foreign policy adviser, said Russia is in contact with the new Syrian administration at both diplomatic and military levels after granting asylum to the former president Bashar al-Assad and his family. Moscow has previously said it is in talks over the fate of a naval facility it operates in the port of Tartus and the Khmeimim air base it operates in Latakia province.
(Photo: Source X)
