On the morning of December 24, 2024, reports emerged that a Russian cargo ship, Ursa Major, sank in the Mediterranean Sea due to an explosion on board. This vessel was part of the fleet of the Russian Ministry of Defense's "Oboronlogistika" and had previously been used for the "Syrian Express" operations.
The incident involving the explosion and subsequent sinking of Ursa Major appears somewhat unusual, considering it was a relatively large ship with a length of 140 meters and a width of 23 meters, making it slightly smaller than the cruiser "Moskva." For reference, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, sunk in 2022 by "Neptune," had a length of 186.5 meters and a width of 20 meters.
Immediately after the news of the explosion and sinking of Ursa Major broke, reports followed that this cargo ship was actually headed to Vladivostok, carrying two Liebherr port cranes and two 45-ton covers for nuclear reactors intended for one of the forthcoming icebreakers.
At first glance, such information may seem unreliable, as it would be more logical for Russia to send all available vessels to the shores of Syria in the current geopolitical situation to evacuate its troop contingent to a new destination, such as Libya or Sudan.
However, the nuance is that the aforementioned Ursa Major was indeed transporting the port cranes and reactor covers, and there are publicly available images that confirm this information.
The fact is that Russia is currently undertaking another "mega-project" in the Far East to construct nuclear icebreakers of the "Leader" class, with the first one named "Rossiya" being laid down in 2020, although the order to commence construction was issued back in 2010.
The construction of this icebreaker is set to take place at the "Zvezda" shipbuilding complex in the city of Bolshoy Kamen, located 30 kilometers from Vladivostok.
Furthermore, it is worth noting a specific detail – the planned delivery date for the nuclear icebreaker "Rossiya" has been postponed at least until 2030, and it seems that the Russians themselves are not entirely confident that they will be able to complete this icebreaker.
Nonetheless, perhaps out of inertia, some components necessary for this project, namely the reactor covers and costly Liebherr port cranes, were deemed essential by the Russians to be delivered using the same cargo ship, Ursa Major.
However, this only highlights the mystery surrounding the incident, raising the question of what might have exploded on board this 140-meter cargo ship that ultimately sank.