>>22229089

There's been new sanctions, UK & EU, but hasn't been on the maritime sites. Just this from yesterday

Russian Cargo Ship Sinks in Mediterranean After Explosion, Russian Foreign Ministry Says

By Andrew Osborn and Gleb Stolyarov Reuters December 24, 2024

MOSCOW, Dec 24 (Reuters) – A Russian cargo ship called Ursa Major sank in the Mediterranean Sea overnight after an explosion ripped through its engine room and two of its crew are still missing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The vessel, built in 2009, was controlled by Oboronlogistika, a company that is part of the Russian Defence Ministry’s military construction operations, which had previously said it was en route to the Russian far eastern port of Vladivostok with two giant port cranes lashed to its deck.

The Foreign Ministry’s crisis center said in a statement that 14 of the ship’s 16 crew members had been rescued and brought to Spain, but that two were still missing. It did not say what had caused the engine room explosion.

Russia’s embassy in Spain was cited by the state RIA news agency as saying it was looking into the circumstances of the sinking and was in touch with the authorities in Spain.

Oboronlogistika and SK-Yug, a company LSEG lists as part of the group and the ship’s direct owner and operator, declined to comment on the sinking. Both entities were placed under sanctions by the United States in 2022 for their ties to Russia’s military as was the Ursa Major itself.

Unverified video footage of the ship heavily listing to its starboard side with its bow much lower down in the water than usual was filmed on Dec. 23 by a passing ship and published on Russia’s life.ru news outlet on Tuesday.

Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service said it had received a distress signal from the Ursa Major on Monday when it was located about 57 miles off the coast of Almeira.

It said it had contacted a ship nearby which had reported bad weather conditions, a lifeboat in the water, and said the Ursa Major was listing to the starboard side.

Two vessels and a helicopter had been sent to the scene and the 14 surviving crew members taken to the Spanish port of Cartagena.

It cited the crew as saying that the ship had been carrying empty containers as well as the two port cranes on deck.

A Russian warship had later arrived on the scene, it said, and taken charge of rescue operations.

SINKING

Oboronlogistika, the ship’s ultimate owner, said in a statement on Dec. 20 that the ship, which LSEG data showed was previously called Sparta III among other names, had been carrying specialized port cranes due to be installed at the port of Vladivostok as well as parts for new ice-breakers.

Two giant cranes could be seen strapped to the deck in the unverified video footage.

LSEG ship tracking data shows the vessel departed from the Russian port of St. Petersburg on Dec. 11 and was last seen sending a signal at 2204 GMT on Monday between Algeria and Spain where it sank.

On leaving St. Petersburg it had indicated that its next port of call was the Russian port of Vladivostok, not the Syrian port of Tartous which it has called at in the past.

Separately, Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence service – which tracks Russian ship movements – had said in a post on its official Telegram channel on Monday that a different Russian cargo ship, called Sparta, had temporarily run into technical problems off the coast of Portugal.

HUR said in an update that the Sparta’s crew had fixed the problem however and that the ship was en route for Syria to collect military equipment and ammunition after the fall of close Russian ally Bashar al-Assad.

Reuters could not verify the HUR’s assertions about the Sparta’s destination or mission.

https://gcaptain.com/russian-cargo-ship-sinks-in-mediterranean-after-explosion-russian-foreign-ministry-says/

>>22229138

Have any names for those vessels?

>>22229147

Latinos, what else is there to make a low rider out of?

>>22229158

These two? One built in 1969 and the other built in 1973

'A new environmental catastrophe is on its way,' charity warns after damaged Russian tankers cause oil spill

A video shot from inside one of the vessels appears to show part of a tanker ripped from the body of the craft, and sinking down into the water.

By Bethany Minelle, news reporter Sunday 15 December 2024 18:15, UK

Two Russian tankers in the Black Sea have been badly damaged due to stormy weather, according to the Interfax news agency.

At least one person has been killed, and an emergency rescue operation is under way to evacuate both crews.

Russian investigators say they have opened two criminal cases to look into possible safety violations.

Ifax says the damage has resulted in an oil spill, citing Russia's Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport (Rosmorrechflot).

Pictures and videos shared on X appear to show at least one ship in lots of trouble.

A video shot from inside one vessel appears to show part of a tanker ripped from the body of the craft, and sinking down into the water.

As the camera pans around, about seven members of the crew can be seen in the bridge of the tanker, wearing orange life jackets and looking out at the damage.

The 136-metre Volgoneft 212 tanker was carrying a crew of 13 and a cargo of fuel oil and had its bow torn away when it ran aground, according to Russian state news agency TASS, citing the country's Emergency Situations Ministry.

The badly damaged Russian-flagged vessel, which was built in 1969, is understood to have been carrying thousands of tonnes of oil, with a total capacity of around 4,2000 tonnes.

In the shared video, oil can be seen on the surface of the water.

"There was a spill of petroleum products," Russia's water transport agency, Rosmorrechflot confirmed.

A second Russian-flagged ship, the 132-metre Volgoneft 239, is also in distress in the same area after sustaining damage, according to Russian officials.

They say it has a crew of 14 people and was built in 1973. It also has a loading capacity of around 4,200 tonnes of oil products.

'True impact will become apparent'

Natalia Gozak, director of the Ukrainian office of Greenpeace told Sky News: "We are monitoring the situation, and it's not good in terms of environmental consequences."

Unable to physically inspect the area due to the fact it's been occupied by Russia since 2014, she says the environmental charity uses social media and any information flagged to them to track potential pollution.

She compares it to an incident that took place in November 2007, when a storm struck ships in the same area, spilling around 1,300 tonnes of oil and causing the worst environmental disaster in the region in years.

Ms Gozak says with increased traffic in the area, as cargo ships bring fuel for Russian military ships, and stormy season under way, an incident like this was waiting to happen.

She says the effects of the 2007 spillage lasted for years, negatively impacting biodiversity and marine life. She fears the effects of this latest disaster could be just as bad, if not worse.

She explains: "We can expect a similar impact for years to come. What we have seen from the previous event was that even after one year the levels of pollution stayed really high, with traces observed years and years later.

"Considering a storm is involved, and the ships are reported to have been carrying thousands of tonnes of oil, I think a new environmental catastrophe is on its way. The true impact will soon become apparent."

Rescue operation and clean up

Russia has sent more than 50 people and equipment including Mi-8 helicopters and rescue tugboats into the area.

Russia's emergency services ministry said both ships were damaged due to bad weather in the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and annexed Crimea.

The strait is an important global shipping route, providing passage from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.

It has also been a key point of conflict between Russia and Ukraine after Moscow annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.

In 2016, Ukraine took Moscow to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, where it accused Russia of trying to illegally seize control of the area. In 2021, Russia closed the strait for several months.

President Vladimir Putin has met with the deputy prime minister and the ministers for emergencies and the environment and has instructed that a working group is set up to deal with the rescue operation and mitigate the impact of the spill, the Kremlin said.

Svetlana Radionova, head of Russia's natural resources watchdog Rosprirodnadzor, said specialists were assessing the damage at the site of the incident.

Official statements did not provide details on the extent of the spill or why one of the tankers sustained such serious damage.

https://news.sky.com/story/oil-spill-in-black-sea-caused-by-two-damaged-russian-tankers-13274065

Phil