Russian cargo ship sank in Mediterranean Sea with two crew missing, Russian Foreign Ministry says

MOSCOW: A Russian cargo ship called ‘Ursa Major’ sank in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria and two of its crew are missing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The ship went down after an explosion in its engine room and 14 of its 16 crew members have been rescued and brought to Spain, the ministry said in a statement.

Unverified video footage of the ship heavily listing to its starboard side with its bow much lower down in the water than usual was filmed on Dec. 23 by a passing ship and published on Russia’s life.ru news outlet on Tuesday.

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LSEG ship tracking data shows the vessel departed from the Russian port of Saint Petersburg on Dec. 11 and was last seen sending a signal at 2204 GMT on Monday between Algeria and Spain.

On leaving Saint 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 previously.

The operator and owner is a company called SK-Yug, part of Oboronlogistics, according to LSEG data.

Oboronlogistics and SK-Yug declined to comment on the ship’s sinking. Oboronlogistics said in a statement on Dec. 20 that the ship was carrying specialised port cranes due to be installed at the port of Vladivostok as well as parts for new ice-breakers.

Two giant cranes could be seen strapped to the deck in the unverified video footage.