MV ''Ursa Major'' was a

heavy-lift ship A heavy-lift ship is a vessel designed to move very large loads that cannot be transported by normal ships. They are of two types: *''Semi-submersible'' ships that take on water ballast to allow the load—usually another vessel—to be fl ...

that operated from 2009 to 2024. She was built in Germany in 2009 as ''Scan Britania''. She was renamed ''Hyundai Britania'' in 2010; ''EIT Palmina'' in 2011; ''Sparta III'' in 2017; and ''Ursa Major'' in 2021. In 2024 she sank in the western

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, with the loss of two of her 16 crew. At the time of the sinking, the ship was owned by the Russian

state corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

Oboronlogistika.

Building and description

The ship was ordered on 15 September 2008 from Peene-Werft in

Wolgast Wolgast () is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river (or strait) Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast that can be accessed ...

, Germany. of

Berne, Germany Berne () is a municipality in the district of Wesermarsch, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is on the left bank of the Weser, approximately 20 km east of Oldenburg and 25 km northwest of Bremen. Notable people The Canadian photographer L ...

built and delivered her forward and cargo sections. The ship built as yard number 251. She was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 28 January, launched on 28 October, and delivered on 14 December 2009. Her

length overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also ...

was , her

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

was , and her draught was . Two heavy cranes were mounted on her

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

side. Her

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

and

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

were on her

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck (ship), deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is t ...

, leaving her deck as clear as possible for bulky cargo, which then could not obstruct the forward view from her bridge. Her main engine was a single 16-cylinder

MAN B&W MAN Diesel SE was a German manufacturer of large-bore diesel engines for marine propulsion systems and power plant applications. In 2010 it was merged with MAN Turbo to form MAN Diesel & Turbo. History In 1980 MAN acquired the Burmeister & Wain ...

16V32/40 medium-speed

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

manufactured by

STX Corporation STX Corporation is a South Korean company that provides trading services and is publicly held. The company operates through two divisions: trade and ship maintenance. Its trade division deals with shipping and energy materials such as coal, oil ...

under license in South Korea. It drove a single

controllable pitch propeller Controllability is an important property of a control system and plays a crucial role in many regulation problems, such as the stabilization of unstable systems using feedback, tracking problems, obtaining optimal control strategies, or, simply p ...

, giving her a service speed of and a maximum speed of .

Names and registries

The ship's

IMO number The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term with two distinct applications: * the IMO ship identification number is a unique ship identifier; or, * the IMO company and registered owner identification number is u ...

was 9538892, and her

MMSI A Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) is effectively a maritime object's international ''maritime telephone number'', a temporarily assigned UID issued by that object's current flag state (unlike an IMO number, which is a permanent global UID ...

number was 273396130. When completed as ''Scan Britania'' in December 2009, she was

registered Registered may refer to: * Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody * Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...

in the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. In February 2010 she was renamed ''Hyundai Britania'', and in 2011 her registration was transferred to Germany. In August 2011, the ship was renamed ''EIT Palmina'', and her registration was transferred to

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda, numerous other small islands. Antigua and Barbuda has a total area of 440 km2 (170 sq mi), ...

. In February 2017 she was renamed ''Sparta III'', and her registration was transferred to

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

. In April 2017 her registration was transferred to Russia, and in October 2021 she was renamed ''Ursa Major''. By 2019 the Russian military logistics company Oboronlogistika was

managing Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

her, and by 2024 she was registered in

Novorossiysk Novorossiysk (, ; ) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities designated by the Soviet Union as a Hero City. The population was History In antiquity, the shores of the ...

. Oboronlogistika said the ship was its

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

. Her direct owner and operator was a company called SK-Yug.

Russian career

In September 2019, as ''Sparta III'', the ship brought a cargo from China to Europe via the

Northern Sea Route The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (, shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route about long. The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is the shortest shipping route between the western part of Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region. Ad ...

. This was 27 percent shorter than sailing around Asia to the south; which made her voyage ten days shorter. It avoided the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

with its attendant

toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Toll road, a type of road which for which payment is required for passage ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road to ...

, and the risk of piracy in parts of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. Oboronlogistika claimed that the voyage saved

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

300,000. At the time, the Northern Sea Route was usable from August to October. In late 2020, ''Sparta III'' became ice-bound near Mys Sopochnaya Karga in the

Yenisey The Yenisey or Yenisei ( ; , ) is the list of rivers by length, fifth-longest river system in the world, and the largest to drain into the Arctic Ocean. Rising in Mungaragiyn-gol in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course through Lake Baikal a ...

river estuary in the Russian Arctic. The 1979–built icebreaking

anchor handling tug supply vessel Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) vessels are mainly built to handle anchors for oil rigs, tow them to location, and use them to secure the rigs in place. AHTS vessels sometimes also serve as Emergency Response and Rescue Vessels (ERRVs) and a ...

Kigoriak ''Kigoriak'' () was a Canadian and later Russian icebreaking anchor handling tug supply vessel. Built by Saint John Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company for Canadian Marine Drilling (Canmar) in 1979 as ''Canmar Kigoriak'', she was the first commercia ...

'', which had been chartered to escort her, was unable to free her, so Oboronlogistika asked

FSUE Atomflot Atomflot (, translation: "Atom fleet") is a Russian company and service base that maintains the world's only fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers. Atomflot is part of the Rosatom group, and is based in the city of Murmansk. , the company operat ...

to divert one of its

nuclear-powered icebreaker A nuclear-powered icebreaker is an icebreaker with an Nuclear marine propulsion, onboard nuclear power plant that produces power for the vessel's propulsion system. Although more expensive to operate, nuclear-powered icebreakers provide a number ...

s operating in the

Gulf of Ob The Gulf of Ob (), also known as the Bay of Ob (), is a bay of the Arctic Ocean, located in northern Russia at the mouth of the Ob River. It is the world's longest estuary. Geography The mouth of the Gulf of Ob is in the Kara Sea between the ...

to free both ships. Rosatom deployed the nuclear-powered ''Vaygach'' to break a channel and the diesel-electric ''Admiral Makarov'' to tow ''Sparta III'' to the ice edge where the ship, having damaged its steering gear, was handed over to the ice-strengthened salvage ship '' Spasatel Karev'', which towed it to

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

. Oboronlogistika is a Russian

handling marine military logistics. For years, the ship carried

matériel Materiel or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. Military In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers eith ...

on Russia's "

Syrian Express The Syrian Express is the name used to describe the regular supply voyages through the Bosporus to Ba'athist Syria, in particular using amphibious warfare ships of the Russian Navy, that were made during the Syrian civil war (2011–2024). Follo ...

" supply route to

Tartus naval base The Russian naval facility in Tartus is a leased military installation of the Russian Navy located on the northern edge of the sea port of the Syrian city of Tartus. Up until 2017, Russian official usage classified the installation as a Materia ...

in Syria. Another ship named ''Sparta'', ''Sparta IV'', had also previously involved in the Syrian Express. Some of that materiél was destined for

Khmeimim Air Base Khmeimim Air Base (), also Hmeimim Air Base (), is a Syrian airbase currently operated by Russia, located south-east of the city of Latakia in , Latakia Governorate, Syria and approximately 2 miles north-east of the coastal town of Jableh. The a ...

. In 2022, after the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, the US Government sanctioned the ship.

Loss

On 11 December 2024, ''Ursa Major'' left

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

for

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

. As it was winter, she was to sail via the Suez Canal. Her cargo included two 45-ton hatches for a

Project 10510 icebreaker Project 10510, also known through the Russian type size series designations LK-110Ya and LK-120YaThe type size series designation "LK-110Ya" () and "LK-120Ya" () comes from the Russian language word for "icebreaker" (), propulsion power (110 or 1 ...

that was under construction, and two

Liebherr Liebherr () is a German-Swiss multinational corporation, multinational equipment manufacturer based in Bulle, Switzerland, with its main production facilities and origins in Germany. Liebherr consists of over 130 companies organized into 11 divi ...

420 mobile cranes to be installed at the Port of Vladivostok. ''Ursa Major'' was travelling in the company of ''Sparta IV''. Some reports claimed that ''Ursa Major'' was headed for

Tartus Tartus ( / ALA-LC: ''Ṭarṭūs''; known in the County of Tripoli as Tortosa and also transliterated from French language, French Tartous) is a major port city on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. It is the second largest port city in Syria (af ...

. However, this is inconsistent with the fact that she was carrying vital cargo destined for Vladivostok. By 22 December, when the ship was in international waters between Spain and Algeria, satellite tracking showed that her speed suddenly dropped to . According to

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...

, there was an explosion in her engine room. By 23 December, she was drifting south at 1 knot. Photographs published online showed her down by her stern, with her bow and forward superstructure raised, and listing to

starboard Port and starboard are Glossary of nautical terms (M-Z), nautical terms for watercraft and spacecraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the Bow (watercraft), bow (front). Vessels with bil ...

. According to a notice to mariners by

Salvamento Marítimo The Sociedad de Salvamento y Seguridad Marítima (literally: ''Maritime Safety and Rescue Society''), also known as SASEMAR or Salvamento Marítimo, is a sea search and rescue agency that operates in Spain. It is the body in charge of maritime ...

, ''Ursa Major'' sank on 23 December at 23:22 UTC at position , between

Águilas Águilas () is a municipality and seaport of southeastern Spain, in the province of Murcia. It is situated at the southern end of Murcia's Mediterranean coastline, otherwise known as the Costa Cálida, near the border with the Province of Almer ...

in Spain and

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

in Algeria. Spanish fishing vessels; the ; and the rescue ship ''Clara Campoamor'' rescued 14 members of her crew, and landed them at Cartagena. Two other crew members were reported to be missing. On 25 December, Russian state news agency

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (), is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013, by a decree of Vladimir Putin, it was liquidated and its assets and workforce were transferred to the newly created ...

reported that ''Ursa Major'' was victim of "an act of

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

", and described the sinking as being the result of three explosions, citing the vessel's owner Oboronlogistika.

References

External link