Russian cargo ship sinks in Mediterranean after engine room explosion, Moscow says

By Rob Picheta, Teele Rebane, Svitlana Vlasova and Benjamin Brown

(CNN) — An explosion sank a sanctioned Russian cargo ship in the Mediterranean Sea on Monday night, Russian authorities said, leaving two crew members missing.

The crisis center of the Russian Foreign Ministry said the vessel, Ursa Major, sank south of Spain after a blast in the engine room. It was traveling through the Mediterranean after traversing the Strait of Gibraltar, the narrow sliver of ocean between Europe and Africa.

The ministry said 14 crew members were rescued and taken to a Spanish port but two were unaccounted for.

Ursa Major is the flagship vessel owned by Oboronlogistika, a shipping company that moves cargo for Russia’s Defense Ministry. The company was sanctioned by the US State Department in 2022.

Russian state media RIA Novosti said Wednesday that the incident was caused by a terrorist attack and involved three explosions on the starboard side of ship, citing the vessel owner Oboronlogistika. CNN has reached out to Oboronlogistika for comment.

Spain’s maritime rescue agency confirmed that the vessel had sunk, alerting ships in the area to the “possibility of shipwreck debris” and urging them “to keep a sharp lookout, keep a wide berth” and report any sightings to authorities.

Oboronlogistika had said in a press release on Friday that the vessel, which was formerly called Sparta, was on its way to Vladivostok, in Russia’s far east, transporting two large cranes that would be used to develop port infrastructure there.

But Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, GUR, claimed on social media on Monday morning — hours before the vessel sunk — that the ship was heading to Syria, and had already encountered problems on its journey. Kyiv’s intelligence service claimed the ship had broken down off the coast of Portugal but that the crew had resolved the problem and continued with their journey.

Video filmed on Monday, shared on Russian social media channels and verified by CNN, showed a vessel matching the appearance of the Ursa Major listing heavily, with cranes visible on the ship.

The agency said Russia sent the ship to move its weapons and equipment out of Syria, where Russia still controls a port facility at Tartus, following the ouster of Moscow’s ally and former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Last week, two US officials and a western official familiar with the intelligence told CNN that Russia had begun withdrawing a large amount of military equipment and troops from Syria.

The US State Department says Oboronlogistika’s main objectives are to “guarantee the needs of the Russian Ministry of Defense regarding transportation, storage, and production of military and special purpose goods.”

Earlier this month, two Russian tankers carrying thousands of tons of fuel were badly damaged in stormy weather near the Black Sea, leading to an oil spill.

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