Sanctioned Russian Ship Was Sunk By "Terrorist Attack," Owner Claims

The sanctioned shipowner behind a fleet of Russian sealift ships says that the freighter that went down near the Strait of Gibraltar this week was sunk by a "terrorist attack."

At some point between 1050 and 1230 hours on Monday, the sanctioned heavy lift ship Ursa Major was under way east of the Strait of Gibraltar when she sustained an explosion in the engine room. A Spanish Navy patrol ship, the Salvamento Maritimo response vessel Clara Campoamor, and a good Samaritan vessel - the Sparta, another sanctioned Russian cargo ship - came to the aid of the crew. The vessel listed and ultimately sank; 14 seafarers were rescued and two remain missing. 

AlmaPlusTV | Carguero Ruso Ursa Major: ataque terrorista en el Mediterráneo

?? El carguero ruso Ursa Major sufrió un ataque terrorista en el mar Mediterráneo, provocando su naufragio. La tragedia dejó a 16 miembros de la tripulación en peligro, de los cuales 14 lograron ser… pic.twitter.com/ASXgPSUO0Q

— Alma Plus Tv (@almaplustv) December 25, 2024

Ursa Major was carrying two large crawler cranes as deck cargo, and her owner confirmed that Vladivostok was her destination - but many analysts are skeptical that she was headed out of the Mediterranean. Russian forces are in the midst of an apparent relocation out of Syria, and have evacuated all warships of the Mediterranean Flotilla from their longtime base at Tartus. The cranes could be of use in this sealift effort, potentially at the flotilla's next overseas home port. 

Ursa Major was a small heavy lift ro/ro freighter operated by sanctioned Russian defense company Oboronlogistika. She served the Russian military's Crimea-to-Tartus route many times over the years, and the U.S. Treasury sanctioned her by name in May 2022.  

According to Oboronlogistika, the sinking was an attack. The company told state media outlet RIA Novosti that "three successive explosions occurred on the starboard side, in the area of ??the stern." A bystander video shows the vessel listing to starboard, but the outlet reported that she took on a "left side" list of 25 degrees before sinking. 

Oboronlogistika asserted that Ursa Major was carrying 129 empty containers and two cranes, but no other cargo.