MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. In all likelihood Russia’s dry cargo ship Ursa Major sank in international waters between the Spanish autonomous region of Murcia and Algeria due to a pre-planned act of sabotage, military expert Alexander Stepanov, program director of the Academy of Political Sciences, senior researcher at the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences has told TASS.

Earlier, the El Espanol newspaper reported that the Russian vessel had sunk in international waters between the Spanish autonomous region of Murcia and Algeria. The vessel left St. Petersburg about two weeks ago and was on its way to the port of Vladivostok, where it was supposed to arrive on January 22. The Ursa Major is a cargo vessel built in 2009.

"The destruction of the Oboronlogistics company’s flagship leaves no doubt it was an act of sabotage by the enemy. It is known that the enemy within the framework of regular NATO exercises in the Baltic Sea, as well as maneuvers of the US 5th Fleet in the Persian Gulf, regularly practiced various scenarios of sabotage against marine infrastructure facilities, as well as against surface ships using combat autonomous systems," Stepanov said.

The expert remarked that such attacks are virtually impossible to identify and track down: "This method of sabotage is very hard to prove, if at all."

"In the light of the recent statements by the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas about the readiness to crack down on the Russian tanker fleet the destruction of Oboronlogistics' assets is quite an acceptable methodology of a new maritime hybrid warfare for them," the expert said.

Ursa Major wreck

The Ursa Major - the largest dry cargo ship of the Russian company Oboronlogistics - was on the way from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok where it was to participate in expanding the local logistics terminal. It was equipped with two cranes with a lifting capacity of 350 tons each, which makes it a typical and rather rare representative of the Heavy Lift Cargo Vessel class in our civilian fleet," Stepanov said.

The expert said the ship was carrying 45-ton hatch covers for new icebreakers - the main means of ensuring navigation along the Northern Sea Route.

The Ursa Major sank in the Mediterranean Sea due to an explosion in the engine room. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry's situation and crisis analysis center, the incident occurred in international waters between Spain and Algeria. Fourteen crew members out of the 16 have been rescued. Two are missing.