A unique and difficult-to-replace sea transport ship belonging to the Kremlin’s military logistics company sank in the Mediterranean near Spain on Christmas Eve. The loss of the 13,000 ton M/V Ursa Major is a serious blow to Oboronlogistika and the ailing Russian shipbuilding industry.

The one built in Germany Ursa Major was only 15 years old, too young to be a support ship, when she suffered what the Russian Crisis Management Center described as an “explosion” in her engine room. The ship was seen on the starboard side before eventually sinking. Nearby ships rescued all but two of their 16 crew.

Ursa Major was a special enrichment. She was Oboronlogistika’s largest vessel and also one of the few vessels on the company’s register with roll-on/roll-off ramps for vehicles that could move directly in and out of the hold, as well as top-mounted cranes for vertical loading . “There is simply no larger universal cargo ship of the RO/RO-LO/LO class (capable of horizontal and vertical loading),” groaned a Russian blogger in a letter translated by Estonian analyst WarTranslated.

Ursa Major Once supported the Russian garrison in Syria, which is now at risk as a new regime takes power in the war-torn country. However, she was reportedly on another duty when she sank. The RO/RO vessel sailed from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok on Russia’s Pacific coast in mid-December. On December 16, she crossed the English Channel with other Russian relief personnel Sparta and the Russian naval corvette RFS Soobrazitelnyy.

A Royal Navy Type 23 frigate shadowed the Russians on the passage. A Portuguese Air Force Lockheed Martin P-3 patrol aircraft later checked in.

Visible on Ursa MajorThe deck at the time: a pair of heavy cranes. The cranes and a pair of special hatches for nuclear-powered icebreakers were reportedly destroyed Ursa Majorwas the main cargo as she sailed south through the Mediterranean toward the Suez Canal, following the southern route to Vladivostok rather than the northern sea route to avoid winter ice. The unwieldy cranes may have caused this Ursa Major top-heavy, which may contribute to their loss.

“Along with the ship, the cranes for the Vladivostok terminal and luxury hatches for icebreakers also went to the bottom,” the blogger complained. “Ursa Major“‘s mission in the Far East was to fulfill state objectives related to the ‘development of port infrastructure and the Northern Sea Route’, which are now clearly disrupted.”