Russian Cargo Ship Sinks in Mediterranean after Engine Room Explosion

An engine room explosion sank a Russian cargo ship called ‘Ursa Major’ in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria and two of its crew are missing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The vessel, built in 2009, was controlled by Oboronlogistika, a company that is part of the Russian Defence Ministry’s military construction operations, which had previously said it was en route to the Russian far eastern port of Vladivostok with two giant port cranes lashed to its deck.

The Foreign Ministry’s crisis center said in a statement that 14 of the ship’s 16 crew members had been rescued and brought to Spain, but that two crew were still missing. It did not say what had caused the engine room explosion.

Unverified video footage of the ship heavily listing to its starboard side with its bow much lower down in the water than usual was filmed on December 23 by a passing ship and published on Russia’s life.ru news outlet on Tuesday.

Oboronlogistika, the ship’s ultimate owner, said in a statement on December 20 that the ship, which LSEG data showed was previously called Sparta III, had been carrying specialized port cranes due to be installed at the port of Vladivostok as well as parts for new icebreakers.

Two giant cranes could be seen strapped to the deck in the unverified video footage.

LSEG ship tracking data shows the vessel departed from the Russian port of Saint Petersburg on December 11 and was last seen sending a signal at 2204 GMT on Monday between Algeria and Spain.

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On leaving Saint Petersburg, it had indicated that its next port of call was the Russian port of Vladivostok, not the Syrian port of Tartous which it has called at previously.

The operator and owner is a company called SK-Yug, part of Oboronlogistika, according to LSEG data. Oboronlogistika and SK-Yug declined to comment on the ship’s sinking.

Spanish news outlet El Espanol said on its website that crew members had been evacuated to the Spanish port of Cartagena and that several vessels, including a Spanish Navy ship, had taken part in rescuing the crew.

It said the vessel had been due to arrive in Vladivostok on January 22.