Three explosions caused Ursa Major to sink off Spanish coast, says company linked to Russian defence ministry

Pjotr Sauer

A Russian cargo ship that sank on Tuesday in the Mediterranean Sea was the target of an “act of terrorism”, according to the vessel’s owner.

The Ursa Major sank while it was sailing through international waters between Spain and Algeria, leaving two crew members missing,

Its owner, Oboronlogistika – a company affiliated with the Russian defence ministry – said on Wednesday that three explosions on the starboard side of the ship caused the sinking.

The firm described the incident as an “act of terrorism”, but did not specify who might be responsible for the apparent attack.

The 142-metre long Ursa Major was the largest ship operated by Oboronlogistika and had a cargo capacity of 1,200 tonnes. Both the ship and its owner were placed under sanctions by the US in 2022 for their ties to Russia’s military.

Spain’s sea rescue service said in a statement that the ship first sent a distress call on Monday morning when it was off the coast of south-eastern Spain in bad weather, reporting that the ship was listing and a lifeboat had been launched.

Moscow said 14 of the ship’s 16 crew members had been rescued and brought to Spain, but that two crew were still missing.

The ship was reportedly on its way to Vladivostok in the far east of Russia, carrying two cranes for the port weighing 380 tonnes each.

Russian officials have yet to comment on claims suggesting foul play in the ship’s sinking.

The Ukrainian navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said on Tuesday that Russia faced “systemic problems” in maintaining its fleet but gave no indication that Kyiv was involved in the incident.

Through a series of drone and rocket strikes, Ukraine has significantly weakened Moscow’s naval capabilities in the Black Sea, restricting its operations in the three-year-long war.

However, Kyiv has not targeted any Russian ships outside the Black Sea and any involvement in the Ursa Major sinking would mark a significant shift in tactics.

The demise of the Ursa Major came days after a Russian tanker carrying oil products sank in the Black Sea, causing an ecological disaster.

The Russian oil fleet has been heavily sanctioned by western nations since the Kremlin ordered the full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.

As a result, Moscow has resorted to using a so-called ghost fleet of tankers, which are often poorly maintained and unsuitable for open waters, to transport oil and circumvent sanctions.

Andrew Osborn

MOSCOW, Dec 25 (Reuters) - A Russian cargo ship that ran into trouble on Monday in the Mediterranean Sea and later sank was rocked by a series of three explosions in "an act of terrorism," state news agency RIA cited the vessel's owner as saying on Wednesday.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the "Ursa Major," built in 2009, sank after an explosion ripped through its engine room and that two of its 16 crew were missing.

RIA cited Oboronlogistika, the ship's ultimate owner and a company that is part of the Russian Defence Ministry's military construction operations, as saying on Wednesday that the vessel had been targeted in "a terrorist act."

It cited Oboronlogistika as saying that the ship's surviving 14 crew members had reported that three consecutive explosions on the ship's starboard side had detonated at 1350 Moscow time (1050 GMT) in the vessel's aft on Dec. 23.

The ship had then begun to sharply list as it was obviously taking in water, RIA cited Oboronlogistika as saying. The ship was not overloaded, it added.

It was carrying two giant port cranes on its deck with their loading buckets, two heavy hatch covers for ice-breaking vessels, 129 empty containers, and a 20-foot container with roofing equipment, RIA said.

Oboronlogistika had said that the ship had been en route to the Russian far eastern port of Vladivostok.

Oboronlogistika and SK-Yug, a company LSEG lists as part of the group and the ship's direct owner and operator, declined to comment on the sinking at the time. Both entities were placed under sanctions by the United States in 2022 for their ties to Russia's military as was the Ursa Major itself.

Spain's Maritime Rescue Service said it had received a distress signal from the Ursa Major on Monday when it was located about 57 miles off the coast of Almeira.

Two vessels and a helicopter had been sent to the scene and the 14 surviving crew members taken to the Spanish port of Cartagena.

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

On leaving St. 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 in the past.