TO THE BOTTOM
Russian 466ft cargo ship on secret mission for Putin sinks off coast of Spain after ‘explosion on board’
Watch the Ursa Major heavily listing before it sinks
A RUSSIAN cargo ship exploded and sunk off the coast of Spain while on a secret mission for Vladimir Putin.
Ursa Major travelled through Gibraltar into the Mediterranean before it reportedly suffered an explosion in the engine room causing it to heavily list.
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The heavily listing boat then sank between Spain and Algeria as it was heading east.
Two of the 16 crew members on the boat are now reported missing with those rescued taken to the Spanish port of Cartagena.
The Ursa Major's purpose on the voyage is unclear, with Ukraine saying it was on its way to transport weapons.
Ukrainian military intelligence and Spanish sources suggested the Ursa Major was heading to Syria to remove equipment from the country following the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad.
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But the official Russian version is that it was en route for Vladivostok, carrying huge cranes weighing 380 tons each, intended for the construction of a modern nuclear icebreaker.
An official Russian statement said: "To ensure the stability of the vessel when performing cargo operations with oversized cargo, containers were loaded onto the lower deck in advance as additional ballast [in a] complex cargo handling operation."
Ursa Major had left St Petersburg 12 days ago and sailed via the North Sea and English Channel.
If it was going to Syria it would likely have been due to call at Tartus, where the Russian naval base is, to collect cargo bound for naval port Vladivostok.
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It had been due to transit the Suez Canal.
The boat suffered an explosion in the engine at 12.30pm on Monday which caused the boat to heavily list, .
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A Russia Navy ship had to go and provide assistance with the rescue.
The ship's captain said it was carrying containers that were empty at the time of the accident.
Russian outlet Mediazona, reported that five Russian cargo ships, including three large military landing ships and two cargo vessels, have recently entered the Mediterranean.
Both the Ursa Major and another ship, the Sparta, had long been involved in the so-called "Syrian Express", a supply route for Russian forces in Syria.
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Bloodthirsty dictator Assad was removed from power last week in an incredible 10-day blitz by rebel forces.
He fled to Russia - where longtime pal Putin gave him sanctuary - and where the twisted pair will now be licking their wounds after a double-pronged defeat.
But things have gone from bad to worse for Assad with his wife Asma filing for divorce, reports claim.
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