The Russian cargo ship Ursa Major has sunk in the Mediterranean between Spain and Algeria after an explosion in the engine room, as confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He said 14 crew members were rescued and taken to the Spanish port of Cartagena, but two others were missing.
The Big Dipper left the port of St. Petersburg 12 days ago, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
The ship’s owner said it was headed to Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East, carrying two port cranes weighing 380 tons each, although the destination could not be independently confirmed.
The Big Dipper was in the same area of the Mediterranean as another sanctioned Russian ship, the Sparta, when it ran into trouble and the two ships were seen passing through the English Channel last week, reportedly under escort.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) reported that the Sparta was heading to the Russian naval base on the Syrian coast in Tartous to move military equipment out of Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
A Kremlin official said on Monday that Russia was in contact with Syria’s new rulers about the future of its two military facilities. both at the diplomatic and military levels.
Ursa Major’s owner, Oboronlogistika, has been heavily involved in transporting cargo to Tartous, although Sparta’s reported destination on Tuesday was Port Said in Egypt.
On Monday, HUR reported that Sparta had broken down off Portugal, but the problem had been resolved. The Big Dipper was also known as Sparta III, so it was unclear which ship he was referring to.
It is unknown what caused the explosion of the Big Dipper as it passed between Oran, in Algeria, and the Spanish town of Águilas. However, unverified video showed the ship listing badly on Monday.
It was built in 2009 and placed under sanction after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 due to the ship’s owner’s role in delivering cargo to the Russian military.
Oboronlogistika said the cargo ship, which it described as the flagship of its fleet, was carrying 45-tonne hatch covers for icebreakers as well as large cranes for the port of Vladivostok.
