Russian army cargo ship 'linked to Syria' sinks in Mediterranean after explosion
Russian army cargo ship 'linked to Syria' sinks in Mediterranean after explosion
Share:
A Russian cargo ship allegedly bound for Syria sank in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria, leaving two crew members missing on Monday. Fourteen of the Ursa Major's crew were rescued from a lifeboat and transferred to southeastern Spain, Spanish officials said.
The Russian ministry said the ship started sinking following an explosion in the engine room. The vessel was owned by a subsidiary of Oboronlogistika, a shipping and logistics company that was established under Russia's defence ministry and is under U.S. and European Union sanctions for its ties to Russia's military.
Spanish authorities said there were empty containers and two cranes on board. They did not confirm the cause of the accident or where the Russian cargo ship was headed. In a statement on December 20, Oboronlogistika said the cargo ship was headed to Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok carrying two cranes for the port weighing 380 tons each.
Ship tracking data said the 466-foot Ursa Major, built in 2009, last departed from St. Petersburg on December 11. It comes after Ukraine's intelligence directorate said on Monday that a Russian cargo ship called Sparta had broken down near Portugal after the engine failed.
Ukrainian intelligence claimed the ship was sent to evacuate Russian weapons and equipment from Syria. The crew was able to fix the engine failure and it continued on through the Strait of Gibraltar, they said. It is unclear whether the Sparta and the Ursa Major are the same ship.But according to maritime tracking data, the Ursa Major was previously named Sparta III.
