A "terrorist act" sank the cargo ship that went down in international waters in the Mediterranean, the Russian state-owned company that owns the vessel said Wednesday.
The Oboronlogistika company, which belongs to the Russian defence ministry, said it "thinks a targeted terrorist attack was committed on December 23, 2024, against the Ursa Major," it said in a statement cited by Russian news agencies, without indicating who may have been behind the act or why.
Two crew members were reported missing after the ship sank "after an explosion in the engine room", the Russian foreign ministry's crisis unit said initially. It added that out of the 16 Russian crew members, 14 had been rescued and taken to the Spanish port of Cartagena and two were missing.
The Ursa Major is listed on MarineTraffic.com as a 124.7-metre (409-foot) long general cargo ship that was sailing from the Russian city of Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok in Russia's Far East.
The ship sent a distress call Monday morning from off the coast of southeastern Spain in bad weather, reporting it was listing and sailors had launched a lifeboat, Spain's sea rescue service said in a statement.
Spain sent out a helicopter and rescue boats and took the survivors to port, the service said.
A Russian warship then arrived and took charge of the rescue operation since the ship was between Spanish and Algerian waters, after which the Ursa Major sank overnight.
"According to the survivors' account, the cargo ship was carrying empty containers in the hold and two cranes on deck," the Spanish rescue service said.
The ship is owned by a subsidiary of Russia's Oboronlogistika, which belongs to the defence ministry and also provides civilian transport and logistics, the Russian foreign ministry said.
The United States in 2022 imposed sanctions on Oboronlogistika and ships including the Ursa Major for providing "transportation services...for the delivery of cargo to Russian-occupied Crimea".
This means any US organisation dealing with the company or its ships would risk sanctions.
Ukraine's GUR military intelligence said the Ursa Major was also used to supply Russian troops in Syria where Moscow has a naval base at Tartus.