Russian cargo ship sinks in Mediterranean; 2 crew missing

Madrid: A Russian cargo ship sank in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria, leaving two crewmembers missing, Spain’s maritime rescue agency and the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Fourteen of the Ursa Major’s crew were rescued from a lifeboat and transferred to southeastern Spain, the agency said. The Russian ministry said the ship started sinking following an explosion in the engine room.

Spanish authorities said they received an alert around 1 pm on Monday when the vessel was roughly 57 nautical miles (106 kilometres) from the coast of Almería in southeastern Spain.