Russia-linked cargo ship Ursa Major sinks off SE Spain amid suspicions it carried two nuclear reactors bound for North Korea

Late on 23 December 2024 the Russian general-cargo ship Ursa Major sank in international waters of the western Mediterranean, between Aguilas in southeastern Spain and Oran in Algeria, after explosions disabled the vessel. As reported by Reuters, citing the operator, three blasts struck the starboard side near the engine room. Spanish fishing boats and rescue assets pulled 14 of the 16 crew from the water to Cartagena, while two crew members remained missing and are presumed dead. Russia's RIA Novosti, citing the owner, described the sinking as an act of terrorism.

The ship was owned by Oboronlogistika, a Russian state company tied to the Defence Ministry's logistics complex and under US and EU sanctions. It had left St Petersburg bound for the Russian Far East, and according to Reuters its declared manifest listed large hatch covers and cranes, an apparently routine cargo consistent with the icebreaker-equipment explanation later offered for the heavy components.

From early 2026, Spanish reporting recast the cargo. El País reported that investigators suspected the ship carried housings for two VM-4SG submarine-type nuclear reactors, that overhead imagery showed undeclared containers at the stern, and that a hull breach with metal bent inward pointed to an external impact. Euronews reported that investigators concluded the components were likely destined for the North Korean port of Rason, language the outlets heavily hedged. A Russian vessel later visited the wreck, which lies at roughly 2,500 metres depth.

The core facts are well supported: a sanctioned, Russia-linked Defence-Ministry vessel sank after multiple explosions, with two crew lost. Russia's operator called it a terrorist attack but offered no public evidence and named no perpetrator. The claims that the Ursa Major secretly carried two submarine reactors bound for North Korea, and that a Western navy torpedoed it, rest on single-strand Spanish investigative leaks and remain assessed rather than proven; no radioactive material is publicly confirmed and the benign icebreaker-hatch explanation stays live. Scrutiny of Russia-linked shipping mirrors cases such as the Fitburg cable incident. This entry may change with new public information.