A Russian cargo ship sinks in the Mediterranean, leaving two crew members missing

A Russian cargo ship sank in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria, leaving two crew members missing, Spain’s maritime rescue service and the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

14 of the Ursa Major’s crew were rescued unharmed in a lifeboat and transferred to Spain, the agency said. The Russian ministry said the ship began to sink following an explosion in the engine room.

The ship belonged to SK-Yug, a subsidiary of the Russian logistics and logistics company, Oboronlogistika, which was established under the Russian defense ministry and has been placed under US and European Union sanctions for its ties to the Russian military.

Spanish authorities said there were empty containers and two cranes on board. They did not confirm the cause of the accident.

In a statement dated December 20, Oboronlogistika said the cargo ship was headed for The Russian city east of Vladivostok carrying two harbor cranes weighing 380 tons each. Ursa Major had left St. Petersburg 12 days ago, said the Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

Spanish authorities said they received a warning at around 13:00 on Monday when the ship was 57 miles from Almería in southeastern Spain. The marine rescue center contacted a nearby vessel that reported bad weather, a lifeboat and a list of Ursa Major.

The authorities said a Russian warship arrived late on Monday to oversee salvage operations, and the 142-foot cargo ship sank around midnight. The Russian embassy in Spain told RIA Novosti that it was investigating the accident and was in contact with local authorities.

The Ursa Major was in the western Mediterranean at the same time as the Sparta – another Russian cargo ship subject to US sanctions – whose location was reported Tuesday in Port Said, Egypt, according to the ship-watching platform MarineTraffic.com.

It is not uncommon for Russian ships from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok to pass through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal. With global warming, the North Sea route through the Russian Arctic is increasingly cut off year-round, but many ships still choose the southern route in winter.

Spanish maritime rescue agencies remained in the area on Tuesday to monitor the pollution and remove any floating objects that could pose a danger to navigation, authorities said.