A Russian cargo ship that sank after an explosion ripped through its engine room was a victim of an “act of terrorism”, the vessel’s owner has said.
The Ursa Major cargo ship went down in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain on Tuesday, leaving two of its 16-person crew missing, according to Russia’s foreign ministry.
The vessel, built in 2009, had been placed under sanction by the United States for its ties to Russia’s military after the invasion of Ukraine.
Russian state news agency RIA reported that Oboronlogistika, the company which owns the cargo ship, said in a statement that the vessel had been targeted in “a terrorist act”.
The company, which is part of the Russian defence ministry’s military construction operations, said the 14 crew members located had reported consecutive explosions on the ship at 10.50am.
The vessel was reportedly carrying two giant port cranes on its deck with their loading buckets, two heavy hatch covers for ice-breaking vessels, 129 empty containers, and a 20-foot container with roofing equipment.
Oboronlogistika had said that the ship had been en route to the Russian far-eastern port of Vladivostok.
Oboronlogistika and SK-Yug, a company listed as the ship’s direct owner and operator, were sanctioned by the United States in 2022 for their ties to Russia’s military as was the Ursa Major itself.
Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service said it had received a distress signal from the Ursa Major on Monday when it was located about 57 miles off the coast of Almeira.
Two vessels and a helicopter were sent to the scene and the 14 surviving crew members were taken to the Spanish port of Cartagena.
LSEG ship tracking data shows the vessel departed from the Russian port of St Petersburg on 11 December and was last seen sending a signal on Monday between Algeria and Spain where it sank.
On leaving St Petersburg it had indicated that its next port of call was the Russian port of Vladivostok, not the Syrian port of Tartous which it has called at in the past.
Reuters contributed to this report.
