OREANDA-NEWS The crew of the Russian cargo ship Ursa Major, which was sinking in the Mediterranean Sea, was rescued by Spanish sailors from the Salvamar Drago vessel. This was reported by the press service of Oboronlogistics, the company that owns the Ursa Major.

After a while, two Spanish rescue ships approached. One of them, the Salvamar Drago, came up to the lifeboat and took the crew on board. They were then taken to the port of Cartagena, Spain, towing the lifeboat with them. The crew were then accommodated in a local hotel.

According to Oboronlogistics, there was also a Norwegian-flagged ship nearby called Oslo Carrier 3. However, when the lifeboat approached this ship, the Russian crew refused to board it, citing some sort of ban.

Ursa Major was a cargo ship that was built in 2009 and was sailing under the Russian flag. It had been on its way from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok when it crashed in the Mediterranean on December 23.

According to Oboronlogistics, the cause of the accident was a terrorist attack. The crew members reported that at 13:50 Moscow time, there were three consecutive explosions on the starboard side in the aft area of the cargo ship. After that, the ship received a hole in its hull and began to roll sharply to the right.

The ship sank about 67 nautical miles from the Spanish coast and 45 nautical miles from the Algerian coast. Fourteen crew members were rescued, but two are still missing.

According to the company, there was no overloading on the ship. Ursa Major is one of Russia's largest dry cargo vessels, with a maximum capacity of 9.5 thousand tons. However, it was carrying only 806 tons of cargo at the time of the incident.