Russian ship underneath US sanctions sinks after engine room blast

A Russian cargo ship, Ursa Major, has sunk within the Mediterranean between Spain and Algeria after an explosion within the engine room, Russia’s international ministry has confirmed.

It stated 14 members of the crew had been rescued and brought to the Spanish port of Cartagena however that two others had been lacking.

Ursa Major left port in St Petersburg 12 days in the past, in line with Russian information company Interfax.

The ship’s proprietor stated it was on its strategy to Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East carrying two cranes for the port weighing 380 tonnes apiece, though the vacation spot couldn’t be confirmed independently.

Before Ursa Major sank, Spain’s Salvamento Marítimo maritime rescue company stated 14 individuals had been discovered on a lifeboat and brought safely to Spain and a Russian warship then arrived within the space to take cost of the rescue operation.

Ursa Major was in the identical space of the Med as one other sanctioned Russian ship, Sparta, when it bumped into bother and the 2 ships had been noticed heading by the English Channel final week, reportedly underneath escort.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian army intelligence (HUR) reported that the Sparta was heading to Russia’s naval base on the Syrian coast at Tartous to maneuver army tools out of Syria after the downfall of Bashar al-Assad.

A Kremlin official stated on Monday that Russia was involved with Syria’s new rulers on the way forward for its two army amenities, at each diplomatic and army degree.

Ursa Major’s proprietor Oboronlogistika has been closely concerned in transporting cargo to Tartous, though Sparta’s reported vacation spot on Tuesday was Port Said in Egypt.

Marine transport monitoring web site LSEG instructed the BBC that Ursa Major’s computerized ID system (AIS) confirmed that its vacation spot since 11 December had been Vladivostok, and that its final name on the port of Tartous had been in July.

On Monday, the HUR reported that the Sparta had damaged down off Portugal, however the issue had been fastened. Ursa Major was also called Sparta III, so it was not clear which ship it was referring to.

It is just not recognized what triggered the explosion on Ursa Major because it handed between Oran in Algeria and the Spanish city of Águilas.

However, video filmed from the tanker Ross Sea between 12:00-13:00GMT on Monday, and verified by the BBC, confirmed the ship itemizing badly.

It ultimately sank at about 01:20GMT on Tuesday.

Ursa Major was inbuilt 2009 and positioned underneath sanction after Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine in 2022 due to the ship proprietor’s position in delivering cargo to the Russian army.

Oboronlogistika stated the cargo ship, which it described because the flagship of its fleet, was carrying 45-tonne hatch covers for icebreakers, in addition to the massive cranes for the port in Vladivostok.