The owner of the ship supports the trail of the terrorist act.
The mystery has remained unsolved since December 23, when the Russian cargo ship Ursa Major sank in the Mediterranean, off the Spanish city of Cartagena, after suffering three explosions. Officially, the cargo ship Ursa Major had set sail for Vladivostok from St. Petersburg “to deliver 'specialized' cranes and hatch covers for icebreakers.”
On Wednesday, December 25, the official Tass news agency, citing the press service of Oboronlogistika, the owner, spoke of “a terrorist attack”.
This company would be, according to American diplomacy, “the sole supplier to the Russian Ministry of Defense for the transport of troops and weapons to certain regions of Russia”. The Ursa Major and another ship, the Sparta, would have been involved in the “Syrian Express”, a supply route for Russian forces in Syria.
A hole measuring “50 centimeters by 50 centimeters”
Spokespersons for Oboronlogistika said Thursday, December 26, that the crew had discovered a hole measuring “50 centimeters by 50 centimeters” in the hull during the first emergency inspection carried out after the three explosions. This hole would be between “15 and 30 centimeters above the waterline”, reports the Spanish daily El Correo, citing the Gazeta newspaper.
The latter specifies that the edges of the hole were torn inwards, leaving fragments of hull on the main deck, which would give rise to the theory according to which there was an explosion from the outside to the inside of the ship. .
Oboronlogistika claimed that the three explosions on the Ursa Major occurred consecutively at 12:50 p.m. on Monday, December 23, on the starboard side closest to the stern. This caused the ship to tip over and leak water which ultimately sank it ten hours later.
No “mention of any aggression” according to the Spanish Interior Ministry
Media from the Prensa Ibérica group (including El Periodico and the Diari de Girona), citing sources from the Ministry of the Interior, however, affirm that “nothing in the maritime rescue report supports the theory of a terrorist attack against the cargo”. The Spanish Navy specifies that “there is also no mention of any aggression in the report of the Serviola-class patrol boat, sent to follow the Russian delegation as it crossed Spanish waters.”
The Russian cargo ship was reportedly the victim of an “uncontrollable leak below the waterline on the starboard stern”, according to a Spanish report assuring that it is up to Moscow “to clarify whether this occurred after one, two or three explosions in or near the engine room.
The damaged ship is currently on the seabed, at a depth of 2,500 meters.
