A Russian cargo vessel sank in the Mediterranean on Monday following what its owner claims were deliberate explosions days earlier, according to Russian state news agency RIA on Wednesday.
The Ursa Major experienced three consecutive explosions on its starboard side at 1350 Moscow time (1050 GMT) on December 23, according to Oboronlogistika, a subsidiary of Russia’s Defense Ministry. The company, speaking through RIA, characterized the incident as “an act of terrorism.”
Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service responded to a distress signal on Monday when the vessel was approximately 57 miles off the coast of Almeira. Spanish authorities dispatched two vessels and a helicopter, successfully evacuating 14 crew members to the port of Cartagena. Two sailors remain missing following an explosion in the ship’s engine room.
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The 14-year-old vessel, built in 2009, was carrying specific industrial cargo: two giant port cranes with loading buckets, hatch covers for ice-breaking vessels, 129 empty containers, and a 20-foot container of roofing equipment. Oboronlogistika emphasized the ship was not overloaded at the time of the incident.
Maritime tracking data shows the Ursa Major departed St. Petersburg on December 11, bound for Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East. The vessel’s final signal was recorded at 2204 GMT on Monday between Algeria and Spain, before it sank.
Both the vessel and its operators, Oboronlogistika and SK-Yug, have operated under U.S. sanctions since 2022 due to their military connections. Neither company provided additional comment on the sinking.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the incident on Tuesday, attributing the sinking to an explosion in the engine room. While the ship had previously called at Syria’s Tartus port, its declared destination for this voyage was Vladivostok.
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