Oboronlogistics LLC believes that on December 23, 2024, a targeted terrorist attack was carried out on the company's vessel Ursa Major.
December 22, 2024 from 13:10 (Moscow time), the vessel Ursa Major was adrift in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain awaiting an improvement in the weather en route, while the main engines were stopped and the vessel was powered from the auxiliary engine.
According to the testimony of the vessel's crew members, on December 23, 2024 at 13:50 (Moscow time), there were three consecutive explosions from the starboard side in the aft area, after which the vessel received a sharp list to starboard up to 25 degrees, which indicated the entry of water into the vessel's premises.
A ship-wide alarm was announced. During the external emergency inspection of the vessel, a hole above the water line (about 15 - 30 cm from the water, taking into account the roughness of the sea) measuring about 50 cm by 50 cm was found, the edges of the hole were torn and directed into the vessel. The deck of the vessel was strewn with shrapnel.
Acrid black-gray smoke came from the emergency exit of the engine room, workshop, false chimney and other places, as well as from the ventilation fungus of the WB 25 ballast tank (the tank was empty), located forward to the detected hole, which indicated the presence of other holes in the hull of the ship. Due to the acrid smoke, which penetrated even through the mask of the breathing apparatus, attempts to get into the engine and boiler room were unsuccessful.
The pumps of the ballast and roll system did not turn on due to the lack of power. The emergency diesel generator started, but power was not supplied to the system, which indicated the complete destruction of the main switchboard located in the engine room.
The crew of the vessel tried to localize the damage, but due to a sharp increase in the list to starboard and trim to the stern, realizing that the loss of the vessel was imminent, the captain decided to evacuate the crew and a distress signal was given. At 15:10, the crew of 14 people left the vessel in a lifeboat. Two crew members were not found.
The boat headed for the Norwegian-flagged vessel Oslo Carrier 3, which was nearby. When the lifeboat approached the board, this vessel (part of the crew of which was russian-speaking) refused to accept the crew members of the Ursa Major, referring to a certain prohibition. This circumstance is a gross violation of Article 10 of the International Convention on Salvage of 1989.
After a while, two Spanish rescue ships arrived. One of them, the Salvamar Drago, approached the lifeboat, took the crew members on board and took them to the port of Cartagena (Spain), towing the lifeboat. The crew was accommodated in a local hotel.
The vessel Ursa Major, one of the largest dry cargo ships in Russia (maximum cargo capacity of 9.5 thousand tons), was en route from the Big Port of St. Petersburg to the port of Vladivostok with a project cargo weighing 806 tons (on board there were: 2 gantry cranes with a total weight of 686 tons, 2 crane buckets with a total weight of 27 tons, 2 ship bilge covers with a total weight of 91 tons, one 20-foot container with spare parts for lids weighing 2 tons and 129 empty containers).