The Russian Foreign Ministry's Crisis Management Center confirmed on Tuesday that an explosion occurred in the Russian Ursa Major cargo ship's engine room, causing the vessel to sink in the Mediterranean Sea.
There were reportedly 16 crew members on the ship when the explosion happened, with 14 of them rescued by the Spanish Coast Guard and brought to the port of Cartagena. Two of the crew members are still missing. The vessel was carrying empty containers, according to the Spanish newspaper La Verdad, which cited the ship's captain. It started the trip from St. Petersburg on December 11 and was scheduled to arrive at its destination on January 22.
The ship was sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2022 because its owner was using it to deliver cargo to the Russian military.