The Russian “shadow fleet” vessel Ursa Major, which sank late last year in the Mediterranean Sea off the southern coast of Spain, may have been attacked by a submarine, according to a report by the Spanish newspaper La Verdad, citing details of an official investigation. According to the paper’s sources, officials suspect the ship was targeted by the forces of a Western country in order to prevent the delivery to North Korea of two nuclear reactors allegedly being transported aboard the vessel.
La Verdad said a breach on the starboard side of the Ursa Major matched the size and characteristics of damage caused by a supercavitating torpedo with a 500-millimeter warhead. Such torpedoes are used by Russia, China, and some NATO countries. Spanish investigators were particularly interested in two blue containers mounted on the stern of the ship that did not match the cargo description provided by the vessel’s captain, Igor Anisimov. Investigators believe the containers held two VM-4SG reactors designed for nuclear submarines.
According to the original plan, the reactors were to be shipped from St. Petersburg to the North Korean port of Rason, located just a few kilometers from Vladivostok — the vessel’s officially declared destination.
The cargo ship and roll-on/roll-off vessel Ursa Major sank about 60 nautical miles south of Cartagena on the night of Dec. 24 after an explosion. The ship’s owner, Oboronlogistika — a state-owned company affiliated with Russia’s Defense Ministry — said the vessel was the target of a terrorist attack. Fourteen of the 16 crew members were rescued, while two remain missing. Rescuers from the Spanish company Helimer, which arrived at the scene, were unable to locate the missing crew members despite the fact that the ship was still afloat at the time and that the door to the engine room was firmly sealed.
Captain Anisimov and Oboronlogistika previously said the Ursa Major was carrying empty containers, port cranes, and hatch covers for icebreakers. Shortly before the sinking, the Russian landing ship Ivan Gren, which was operating in the same area, attempted to interfere with the Spanish rescue operation. According to La Verdad, it fired red signal flares into the air to “blind” infrared sensors on reconnaissance satellites and demanded that Spanish patrol vessels withdraw from the area.
At the moment the ship sank, monitoring equipment recorded shock waves consistent with an explosion equivalent to 20 to 50 kilograms (44 to 110 pounds) of TNT, the newspaper reported.