The Russian ship Ursa Major sank in the western Mediterranean Tuesday after a series of explosions just above the waterline, and the Russians are blaming "terrorism." The 16,000-ton freighter was 12 days into a 42-day voyage from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok carrying two desperately needed cargo cranes for that port, two 45-ton hatches for a Project 10510 icebreaker that was under construction when three engine room explosions rocked it. Two of the 16-man crew were reported missing and presumed dead. The ship was under US sanctions authorized by Executive Order 14024, imposed in August 2022, for activities related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Here, it is dead in the water with a strong list to port.

🐳Now officially: Sanctioned Russian cargo ship “Ursa Major” sank in Mediterranean Sea, not so far from Gibraltar, after a reported explosion in an engine room!

The ship was under US sanctions from 2022 for weapons supplies to Russian military in Syria.

The ship sank during… https://t.co/jaTJdxX6Xb pic.twitter.com/XGkNUTqZg5

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) December 24, 2024

Video of the Ursa Major just prior to sinking. pic.twitter.com/JQbVpXFv5j

— Oliver Alexander (@OAlexanderDK) December 24, 2024

Russian media reports a single 50 cm x 50 cm hole in the hull (that's 19 inches in civilized measurements). 

3/ An inspection revealed a 50x50 cm hole above the waterline, with its torn edges turned inward. Fragments were scattered across the deck, according to Oboronlogistika.

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) December 26, 2024

The inward turn of the edges would indicate an explosion from the hull's exterior. Oddly enough, the owner, the Russian Ministry of Defense-owned Oboronlogistika, claims the hole was on the starboard side of the ship, which makes the list to port strange. This is how the owners described the incident via RIA Novosti. The fractured English may be the fault of Google's translation or vodka, YMMV.

"Acrid black-gray smoke was coming from the emergency exit of the engine room, workshop, false chimney and other places. Smoke was also coming 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 vessel. 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 press service explained.

The company blamed the incident on "terrorism."

“Oboronlogistics believes that on December 23, 2024, a targeted terrorist attack was carried out on the Ursa Major vessel,” the company said in a statement.

Terrorism would be code for a Ukrainian attack.

In my view, the description of the incident does not match the video, so it is possible the description was manufactured out of whole cloth or based on bad information from the crew. We'll never have imagery of the alleged holes in the ship's hull. The fact that the Ukrainians haven't boasted about the operation makes me skeptical of their involvement. All that is certain is that Russia lost one of its largest freighters carrying critical cargo for operations in Vladivostok.