Russian ship sinks after explosion in Mediterranean Sea
24.12.2024 - 09:52
The Russian ship Ursa Major, which was actively used to transport military cargo, sank in the Mediterranean Sea.
This was reported by the monitoring group “Crimean Wind”.
According to tracking services, the ship Ursa Major stopped at about 20:25 Moscow time (19:25 Kyiv time). The Spanish rescue ship Salvamar Draco Sar immediately approached it.
The ship’s AIS system stopped working around midnight after an explosion in the engine room.
Later, the oil product collection ship Clara Campoamor approached the sinking site. The crew of the Ursa Major was taken to Cartagena.
“There was valuable cargo on board – the photo shows two 45-ton hatches in the stern of the ship, covered with a blue tarpaulin. These are the covers of the nuclear reactor of the icebreaker of project 10510 “Leader”. The loss of these two hatches will significantly delay the construction of the icebreaker,” the monitoring group said.
Journalist of the SeaKrime project Kateryna Yaresko noted that 14 crew members were evacuated, two more are considered missing.
“This ship has been mentioned repeatedly in the context of the current war, as it was actively used to transport military cargo between the Russian Federation and Syria,” Yaresko noted.
As a reminder, on December 23, the State Oil and Gas Administration reported that the ship’s main fuel pipe had failed. The agency mistakenly called the ship’s old name, Sparta.
