A Russian cargo ship, which was apt carrying 2 nuclear reactors for submarines, perchance destined for North Korea, suffered a bid of explosions and sank nether unclear circumstances astir 60 miles disconnected the seashore of Spain, according to a CNN investigation.
The destiny of the Ursa Major remains shrouded successful enigma aft it sank connected 23 December 2024. However, according to the CNN report, it whitethorn bespeak a uncommon and high-risk involution by a Western subject unit aimed astatine preventing the shipment of upgraded atomic exertion from Russia to its cardinal ally, North Korea. The vessel departed conscionable 2 months aft Kim Jong Un sent troops to assistance Moscow’s penetration of Ukraine.
Intense caller subject enactment astir the wreck has accrued the enigma regarding its cargo and destination. US atomic detection craft person flown doubly implicit the sunken vessel successful the past year, according to publically disposable formation data. The wreck was besides visited, 1 week aft the sinking, by a suspicious Russian spy ship, which caused 4 further explosions, according to a root acquainted with the Spanish probe into the incident.
The Spanish authorities has said precise little, releasing lone a connection connected 23 February aft unit from absorption lawmakers. It confirmed that the ship’s Russian skipper told Spanish investigators that the Ursa Major was carrying “components for 2 atomic reactors, akin to those utilized successful submarines,” and that helium was not definite whether they contained atomic fuel.
The series of events that led the Ursa Major to the bottommost of the Mediterranean remains unclear. According to the Spanish investigation, arsenic described by a root acquainted with its contents, a uncommon benignant of torpedo whitethorn person been utilized to breach the ship’s hull. The incidental occurred successful the last weeks of Joe Biden’s presidency, erstwhile the warfare successful Ukraine was successful a signifier favourable to Moscow and determination was a beardown US tendency to debar nonstop escalation with Russia.
The Ursa Major, besides known arsenic Sparta 3, had been utilized to evacuate Russian instrumentality from Syria and docked connected 2 December astatine the substance larboard of Ust-Luga successful the Gulf of Finland earlier moving to a instrumentality installation astatine the docks of Saint Petersburg. The ship’s nationalist cargo declaration stated that its destination was Vladivostok successful the Russian Far East erstwhile it departed connected 11 December, carrying 2 ample “manhole covers,” 129 bare containers, and 2 ample cranes.
In October of the aforesaid year, its owning company, state-linked Oboronlogistics, stated successful a merchandise that its ships had been authorised to transport atomic material. Time-lapse video of the loading of the Ursa Major astatine Ust-Luga, analysed by CNN, shows containers being placed wrong the hull, leaving a spread beneath wherever the “manhole covers” would aboriginal beryllium installed.
The vessel sailed on the French seashore earlier craft and vessels of the Portuguese Navy monitored it successful Portuguese waters, according to a Navy statement. Two Russian subject ships, the Ivan Gren and the Aleksandr Otrakovsky, escorted the vessel, and connected the greeting of 22 December the Portuguese Navy ceased tracking it, the connection added.
About 4 hours later, successful Spanish waters, the vessel abruptly slowed, prompting Spanish rescuers to pass via vigor to cheque whether it was successful distress, according to the Spanish authorities probe conducted by maritime authorities successful the confederate larboard of Cartagena. The ship’s unit responded that everything was fine.
However, astir 24 hours later, the vessel abruptly deviated from its people and astatine 11:53 a.m. connected 23 December issued an exigency distress call, according to the investigation. It had suffered 3 explosions connected the starboard side, astir apt adjacent the motor room, sidesplitting 2 unit members. The vessel was near listing and immobile, arsenic shown successful video posted connected societal media.
The 14 surviving unit members evacuated the vessel successful a lifeboat and were aboriginal rescued by the Salvamar Draco, a Spanish rescue vessel. At 7:27 p.m., a Spanish subject vas arrived to assist. Half an hr later, however, 1 of the Russian subject ships escorting the Ursa Major, the Ivan Gren, ordered adjacent vessels to stay 2 nautical miles distant and aboriginal demanded that the rescued unit beryllium handed implicit immediately.
Spanish maritime rescue authorities insisted they had to transportation retired a rescue cognition and sent a chopper to the vas to cheque for survivors. Footage seen by CNN shows a rescuer attempting to participate the ship’s motor country but uncovering it sealed. The Spanish rescuer checked surviving quarters for survivors and looked wrong the ship’s containers, uncovering 2 filled with rubbish, sportfishing nets, and different equipment, according to the video.
The Ursa Major appeared unchangeable and did not look apt to descend immediately, according to the root acquainted with the investigation. At 9:50 p.m., however, the Ivan Gren fired a bid of reddish flares implicit the area, followed by 4 explosions. Four akin seismic signals were recorded astatine that nonstop clip successful the wider area, with a signifier resembling underwater mines oregon unfastened quarry explosions, the Spanish National Seismological Network told CNN.
At 11:10 p.m., the Ursa Major was reported to person sunk, according to the root acquainted with the Spanish investigation.
The 14 surviving Russian unit members were taken ashore successful the larboard metropolis of Cartagena, wherever they were questioned by Spanish constabulary and investigators. The Russian skipper was reluctant to talk astir the ship’s alleged cargo, fearing for his safety, according to the Spanish authorities connection to absorption lawmakers.
The skipper was pressed “to clarify what helium meant by the word ‘manhole covers,’” the items listed successful the ship’s archetypal cargo declaration, the connection added. “He yet admitted that they were components of 2 atomic reactors, akin to those utilized successful submarines. According to his testimony, and this cannot beryllium confirmed, they did not incorporate atomic fuel.”
🛳️🇰🇵 NATO state whitethorn person deed Russian vessel to forestall transportation of atomic exertion to North Korea, — CNN.
The cargo vessel Ursa Major, which was carrying components for 2 atomic reactors, sank nether mysterious circumstances successful December 2024 disconnected the seashore of Spain.
According… pic.twitter.com/575Dbm5tSy
The root acquainted with the probe said the Russian captain, named arsenic Igor Anisimov, believed the vessel was to beryllium diverted to the North Korean larboard of Rason to present the 2 reactors. The Spanish probe analyses the improbable prime of a planetary oversea voyage to present cargo consisting of 2 cranes, 100 bare containers, and 2 ample manhole covers from 1 Russian larboard to another, contempt the extended obstruction web crossed the country. The probe argues that the cranes were connected committee to assistance with the transportation of delicate cargo upon accomplishment successful Rason.
The ship’s unit returned to Russia a fewer days later. CNN contacted a antheral with the aforesaid sanction and quality arsenic the Russian captain. He denied immoderate engagement with the Ursa Major and said helium is retired. Four days aft the sinking, the ship’s owner, Oboronlogistics, described the incidental arsenic a “targeted violent attack” and said 3 explosions occurred. A 50-by-50-centimetre spread was recovered successful the ship’s hull, with the damaged metallic bent inward. “The ship’s platform was covered successful fragments,” the company’s connection added.
A week later, according to the root acquainted with the investigation, the Russian subject returned to the site. The Yantar—officially a Russian probe vas but accused of espionage and sabotage successful NATO waters—remained implicit the wreck of the Ursa Major for 5 days, the root said, earlier 4 much explosions were detected, perchance targeting the remains of the vessel connected the seabed.
Maritime tracking information from quality steadfast Kpler shows that the Yantar was successful the country successful January of past year, anchoring successful Egypt and past Algeria, and connected 15 January transmitted a presumption awesome 20 kilometres from the past known determination of the Ursa Major.
Critical grounds connected the seabed of the Mediterranean
Some details of the Spanish probe into the incidental were archetypal published by the section Cartagena paper La Verdad successful December, prompting a bid of questions from Spanish absorption lawmakers. MP Juan Antonio Rojas Manrique told CNN: “When idiosyncratic does not supply the accusation you petition intelligibly and fully, you astatine slightest fishy they are hiding something… of course.”
In its connection to lawmakers, the Spanish authorities said the wreckage of the Ursa Major lies astatine a extent of astir 2,500 metres and that recovering the information recorder from specified a extent “is not imaginable without important method resources and risks.” Experts person questioned wherefore the authorities considers the cognition truthful dangerous, fixed that nary radioactive worldly is involved.
Rojas, a erstwhile merchant navy captain, besides expressed scepticism, telling CNN: “Today, achromatic boxes usually interval to the aboveground with a locator truthful they tin beryllium recovered successful immoderate accident. I deliberation idiosyncratic has the achromatic box. But we bash not cognize whether it is Spain oregon whether the Russians themselves person located it.”
The US subject has besides shown involvement successful the area, sending doubly an precocious craft for detecting atomic traces, known arsenic the WC135-R and based successful Nebraska, implicit the incidental tract aft the sinking of the Ursa Major—once connected 28 August past twelvemonth and again connected 6 February this year, according to publically disposable formation data.
A spokesperson for the 55th Wing astatine Offutt Air Force Base successful Nebraska, Chris Pierce, confirmed that the aircraft’s relation usually “supports the postulation and investigation of atomic debris.” “We cannot supply further details regarding circumstantial formation paths, ngo findings, oregon immoderate coordination with partners,” helium added. Another WC135-R had flown a comparatively akin way 13 months earlier the sinking of the Ursa Major, suggesting that involvement successful the country whitethorn person predated the sinking oregon been routine.
It is not wide whether these 2 uncommon and costly flights—using craft that usually run secretly and are utilized to observe atomic enactment successful the Russian Arctic oregon astir Iran—detected immoderate hint of contamination from the Ursa Major wreck. The Spanish authorities has fixed nary denotation that it fears radiation on the country’s confederate coast, a fashionable tourer destination, and nary grounds to that effect has emerged.
Possible speech of atomic secrets
The assertion that North Korea was the apt recipient of the 2 reactors allegedly connected committee the vessel comes aft the isolated authorities of Kim Jong Un released images successful December 2025 of its archetypal nuclear-powered submarine. The static images, showing Kim smiling, lone show the sealed hull of the vas and supply nary grounds of a functioning atomic reactor inside.
Mike Plunkett, elder naval platforms expert astatine Janes, a defence quality company, said it was improbable that the reactors, if new, would person been transported with substance wrong them. “If these reactors travel from decommissioned submarines, past they volition beryllium radioactive, though evidently not to the aforesaid grade arsenic if they were afloat loaded with fuel,” helium said.
Russian cargo vessel Ursa Major utilized to transport weapons and instrumentality from Syria sank successful planetary waters betwixt Spain and Algeria aft an motor country explosion.
According to El Español, 14 unit members were rescued, portion 2 stay missing.
The vessel was portion of the… pic.twitter.com/BmV5GmPZNo
Any Russian determination to transportation this exertion to North Korea “is not taken lightly and is thing done lone betwixt precise adjacent allies,” helium added. If true, “this is simply a large determination by Moscow.” He described specified a improvement arsenic “potentially precise worrying, peculiarly if you are South Korea.”
The Spanish investigation, arsenic described to CNN, identifies North Korea arsenic a strategical state of Russia, and notes that Pyongyang has openly called connected Moscow to stock its method expertise successful the atomic field. It is imaginable that specified requests accrued aft astatine slightest 10,000 North Korean troops travelled to Russia successful October 2024 to combat the Ukrainian incursion successful the Kursk region.
The probe states it is imaginable that the reactors being transported were of the VM-4SG model, commonly recovered successful Russian nuclear-powered ballistic rocket submarines of the Delta IV class, but provides constricted grounds to enactment this claim.
CNN obtained outer images from Vantor of the Ursa Major docked astatine the eastbound extremity of the Ust-Luga larboard successful the Gulf of Finland connected 4 December 2024. Geolocated time-lapse videos posted connected the vessel proprietor Oboronlogistics’ relationship amusement the vas being loaded determination with containers and cranes.
After the sinking, the Russian paper Kommersant reported that the Ursa Major was carrying larboard cranes and hatches designed to screen atomic reactors for a caller icebreaker being built successful Vladivostok. The study did not notation the 2 achromatic objects.
What created a spread the size of a pillow successful the hull of the Ursa Major
The Spanish probe besides examines the archetypal onslaught that caused the Ursa Major to deviate from its people and list, according to the root acquainted with the report. The Russian skipper told investigators that helium did not perceive immoderate interaction oregon detonation connected 22 December, erstwhile the vessel abruptly slowed. Only 24 hours aboriginal were determination 3 explosions adjacent the motor room, sidesplitting 2 unit members—the 2nd technologist Nikitin and technologist Yakovlev—whose bodies were not found.
The probe suggests that the 50-by-50-centimetre spread successful the hull of the Ursa Major was apt created by a Barracuda torpedo. Only the United States, immoderate NATO allies, Russia, and Iran are believed to person this benignant of high-speed torpedo, which emits aerial successful beforehand of the limb to trim h2o resistance. This allows it to scope precise precocious speeds and penetrate a target’s hull, with immoderate models not utilizing an explosive warhead to origin damage.
Dark days for Russia's seafaring planetary panic operations arsenic yet different vessel sinks disconnected the seashore of Spain.
The afloat loaded "Ursa Major" carrying God knows what…now gone, taking respective unit members to Davy Jones Locker. pic.twitter.com/GQehpR5sUQ
The root acquainted with the probe said the decision was that the usage of specified a mechanics would lucifer the size of the spread successful the Ursa Major’s hull and could person caused a soundless strike, starring to the ship’s abrupt slowdown connected 22 December.
Other experts cited by CNN disagreed. Plunkett, the Janes analyst, suggested that a magnetic excavation attached to the hull was a much apt mentation for the size and presumption of the hole. “It sounds similar an explosive shaped-charge instrumentality placed connected the hull by idiosyncratic oregon something,” helium said.
The ship’s Russian owners, Oboronlogistics, arsenic good arsenic Russian, Spanish, and British subject authorities did not respond to requests for comment. The Pentagon declined to comment. Many Western information and quality officials contacted by CNN described the incidental arsenic unusual oregon suggested that immoderate conclusions of the Spanish probe were exaggerated, but did not supply an alternative, benign mentation for the archetypal explosions that struck the vessel oregon for the beardown Russian effect to the situation.
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