Russian Cargo Ship Ursa Major Drowns In Mediterranean Sea, 2 Crew Missing

UNSPLASHBernd ILLUSTRATION Dittrich

JAKARTA - The Russian cargo ship 'Ursa Major' sank in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria. Two of its crew are missing.

The ship sank after an explosion occurred in its engine room. The Russian Foreign Ministry said 14 of its 16 crew had been evacuated and taken to Spain.

As reported by Reuters on Tuesday, December 24, unverified video footage shows the ship tilted to the right side of the ship with a much lower bow in the water than usual.

LSEG ship tracking data shows the ship departed from the port of Saint Petersburg in Russia on December 11 and last delivered a signal at 22:04 GMT on Monday between Algeria and Spain.

When leaving Saint Petersburg, the ship indicated the next port was Vladivostok port in Russia, not the port of Tartous in Syria they had previously stopped.

The operator and owner of the cargo ship are a company called SK-Yug, part of the Oboronlogistics.

Oboronlogistics said in a statement on December 20, the ship was carrying a special port crane to be installed at Vladivostok port as well as spare parts for the new ice solver.

Two giant cranes were seen tied to the deck in unverified video footage.