A Russian cargo ship sank within the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria, leaving two crew members lacking, Spain’s maritime rescue company and the Russian Foreign Ministry stated Tuesday.
Fourteen of the Ursa Major’s crew had been rescued unhurt from a lifeboat and transferred to Spain, the company stated. The Russian ministry stated the ship began sinking following an explosion within the engine room.
The vessel was owned by SK-Yug, a subsidiary of the Russian delivery and logistics firm Oboronlogistika, which was established below Russia’s protection ministry and positioned below U.S. and European Union sanctions for its ties to Russia’s navy.
Spanish authorities stated there have been empty containers and two cranes on board. They didn’t affirm the reason for the accident.
In an announcement on Dec. 20, Oboronlogistika stated the cargo ship was headed to Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok carrying two cranes for the port weighing 380 tons every. Ursa Major had left St. Petersburg 12 days in the past, Russian state information company Ria Novosti stated.
Spanish authorities stated they obtained an alert round 1 p.m. Monday when the vessel was roughly 57 nautical miles from Almería in southeastern Spain. The maritime rescue company contacted a ship close by that reported poor climate situations, a lifeboat within the water and the Ursa Major itemizing.
Authorities stated a Russian warship arrived later Monday to supervise rescue operations, and the 142-meter cargo vessel sank round midnight. The Russian embassy in Spain informed RIA Novosti it was investigating the accident and was in touch with native authorities.
Ursa Major was within the western Mediterranean concurrently Sparta – one other Russian cargo ship below U.S. sanctions – whose vacation spot as reported Tuesday was Port Said in Egypt, based on ship-spotting platform MarineTraffic.com.
It’s commonplace for Russian ships going from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok to transit by way of the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal. With international warming, the Northern Sea Route via Russia’s Arctic is more and more traversed year-round, however most ships nonetheless select the southern route in winter.
Spanish maritime rescue models remained within the space Tuesday to watch for air pollution and take away any floating objects that may very well be harmful for navigation, authorities stated.
