What we know and what we don’t about the sinking of the Russian cargo ship ‘Ursa Major’ off the Spanish coast

The Russian cargo ship Ursa Major It sank in the early hours of last Tuesday, December 24, in international waters of the Mediterranean between Spain and Algeria. In it shipwreck they lost their lives two of its 16 crew members while the causes of the sinking and the mission of the vessel remain unclear.

What we know

What does the sunken ship look like and who does it belong to?

He Ursa Major It is the largest cargo ship in the Russian military logistics fleet. Built in Germany in 2009 under the name Scan Britaniathe ship 142 meters long and 23 meters wide, was operated by a subsidiary of the company Oboronlogistikadesignated by the Russian Government as the sole service provider of the Russian Ministry of Defense for the transportation of cargo to Crimea, the Arctic and the Far East of the country.

The Oboronlogistika shipping company was sanctioned by the United States Department of State in 2022 for its links with the Russian army, as was the same Ursa Major.

Where had it started?

On December 11, the Ursa Major left St. Petersburg bound for Vladivostok. Being winter he had to navigate the Suez Canal.

What was it carrying?

On board, the freighter carried two 45-ton hatches for an icebreaker of Project 10510 that is currently being built, and two Liebherr 420 mobile cranes that will be installed in the port of the Russian city of Vladivostok.

According to the Russian agency RIA Novosti, it also had on board 129 empty containers and a six-meter container with roofing equipment.

When and how did it sink?

On December 22, when the ship was in international waters between Spain and Algeria, satellite tracking showed that its speed was suddenly reduced to 1 knot (2 km/h).

According to the TASS agency, up to three explosions occurred in its engine room, which caused the flooding of “several compartments of the ship.”

In the early morning of December 23, the Ursa Major It sank between Águilas (Murcia) and Orán (Algeria). Photographs published on social media showed her sunk at the stern (with the forward bridge and accommodation raised) and listing to starboard.​

How was the rescue of its crew?

In the work of rescue Several vessels that were fishing in the same area participated, and then the Maritime Rescue specialists joined with the Clara Campoamor ship and the Serviola Navy patrol boat, as well as a helicopter after receiving a distress signal from the Ursa Major on Monday when it was about 57 miles off the coast of Almería.

Fourteen of the sixteen crew members were rescued and transferred to the port of Cartagena. The other two crew members remain missing.

What we don’t know

What was his true destiny?

Although both the shipping company itself and the Russian agencies have reported that it was heading to the port of Vladivostok, other information questions its true destination.

According to the newspaper The Sun, andThe ship was part of a secret mission of the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin.

According to this British newspaper, Ukrainian and Spanish intelligence sources suggest that was heading to Syria to remove military equipment from that country after the recent fall of the Syrian dictator Bachar Al Assad.

More specifically, it points to the Syrian city of Tartus, where Russia has one of its two bases in that country and which is also key because it offers its only exit to the Mediterranean.

Accident or terrorist attack?

Although at first it was thought to be an accident, the shipping company itself, Oboronloguistika, has pointed out a “terrorist attack” as a possible cause of the sinking, although without specifying who could have carried it out or why.

For their part, Russian authorities opened a criminal case about the accident for violation of the rules of road safety and operation of water transport, which resulted “in the death of two or more people,” reported the Western Interregional Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.

The case was opened by the investigation department of the Department of Transportation of the Russian Kaliningrad region, according to a statement reported by the Russian news agency Interfax.