Russian cargo ship sinks in Mediterranean after engine room explosion

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A Russian cargo vessel operated by the Ministry of Defence’s logistics fleet sank on Tuesday in international waters between Spain and Algeria while en route from St Petersburg to Vladivostok.

The ship, called Ursa Major, sank following an explosion in its engine room. Two crew members remain missing, while 14 others had been rescued and taken to the Spanish port of Cartagena, Russia’s foreign ministry said.

At 142 metres long — roughly one-and-a-half football pitches — Ursa Major was the largest ship operated by Oboronlogistika, a logistics arm of the Russian military, and had a cargo capacity of 1,200 tonnes.

Built in 2009, the Ursa Major had been placed under US sanctions in 2022 after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine due to its owner’s involvement in delivering cargo to the Russian military.

Oboronlogistika was involved in the “illegal seizure and occupation of Crimea since 2014” and the “transport of weapons” for the Russian government, according to the US State Department.

The Russian defence ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate said the ship had previously transported cargo between Russia and Iran in the Caspian Sea before being reassigned to routes linked to Syria.

The vessel was transporting cranes and equipment for icebreakers to Vladivostok as part of a “state mission” to develop the Northern Sea Route, according to information on Oboronlogistika’s website.

Moscow has in recent years championed the Northern Sea Route as a faster alternative to the Suez Canal for shipping to China, Russia’s largest trading partner, on which it has increasingly relied in the face of western sanctions.

The route lies entirely within Arctic waters but has become more navigable during summer months due to the warming climate.

A standard journey from the northern Russian port of Primorsk to China via the Suez Canal takes 45 days, while the Northern Sea Route reduces this to 35 days.