CNN
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An explosion sank a sanctioned Russian cargo ship within the Mediterranean Sea on Monday night time, Russian authorities stated, leaving two crew members lacking.
The disaster heart of the Russian Foreign Ministry stated the vessel, Ursa Major, sank south of Spain after a blast within the engine room. It was touring by means of the Mediterranean after traversing the Strait of Gibraltar, the slender sliver of ocean between Europe and Africa.
The ministry stated 14 crew members had been rescued and brought to a Spanish port however two had been unaccounted for.
Ursa Major is the flagship vessel owned by Oboronlogistika, a delivery firm that strikes cargo for Russia’s Defense Ministry.
The firm was sanctioned by the US State Department in 2022.
Spain’s maritime rescue company confirmed that the vessel had sunk, alerting ships within the space to the “risk of shipwreck particles” and urging them “to maintain a pointy lookout, maintain a large berth” and report any sightings to authorities.
Oboronlogistika stated in a press launch on Friday that the vessel, which was previously known as Sparta, was on its solution to Vladivostok, in Russia’s far east, transporting two massive cranes that might be used to develop port infrastructure there.
But Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, GUR, claimed on social media on Monday morning — hours earlier than the vessel sunk — that the ship was heading to Syria, and had already encountered issues on its journey,
Kyiv’s intelligence service claimed the ship had damaged down off the coast of Portugal however that the crew had resolved the issue and continued with their journey.
Video filmed on Monday, shared on Russian social media channels and verified by CNN, confirmed a vessel matching the looks of the Ursa Major itemizing closely, with cranes seen on the ship.
The company stated Russia despatched the ship to maneuver its weapons and tools out of Syria, the place Russia nonetheless controls a port facility at Tartus, following the ouster of Moscow’s ally and former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Last week, two US officers and a western official conversant in the intelligence instructed CNN that Russia had begun withdrawing a considerable amount of navy tools and troops from Syria.
The US State Department says Oboronlogistika’s most important goals are to “assure the wants of the Russian Ministry of Defense concerning transportation, storage, and manufacturing of navy and particular goal items.”
Earlier this month, two Russian tankers carrying 1000’s of tons of gas had been badly broken in stormy climate close to the Black Sea, resulting in an oil spill.
