The Russian authorities have opened a criminal case into the accident last Monday of the Russian cargo ship ‘Ursa Major’ by violation of road safety rules and operation of water transportwhich resulted “in the death of two or more people“, as reported by the Western Interregional Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.
The case was opened by the investigation department of the Department of Transportation of the Russian region of Kaliningrad, according to a statement collected by the Russian news agency Interfax. “On the afternoon of December 23, 2024, in the Mediterranean Sea, a incident on a ship flying the Russian flag, which led to its subsequent sinking“, has established the preliminary investigation.
“The ship’s crew abandoned the ship in a lifeboat and reported the incident to the rescue services,” according to the note, which does not provide information about the two missing sailors. “His fate is currently being clarified,” the Investigation Committee.
“Investigators, with the help of the Russian Foreign Ministry, are organizing a series of investigative actions to establish all the circumstances of what happened,” the statement concludes.
Possible terrorist attack
According to the state news agency RIA, What happened could respond to “an act of terrorism”according to the statements offered by the owner of the ship. The ship, built in 2009, sank after an explosion destroyed its engine room and two of its 16 crew were missing.
Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service said it had received a distress signal from the ship itself on Monday when it was about 57 miles off the coast of Almeria. Once the news was known, two boats and a helicopter were sent to the scene and the 14 surviving crew members were transferred to the Spanish port of Cartagena.
LSEG ship tracking data shows that The ship left the Russian port of Saint Petersburg on December 11 and was last seen sending a signal at 2204 GMT on Monday between Algeria and Spain, where it sank.
