Research vessel attached to secret Russian Navy unit arrives at site of Ursa Major shipwreck in the Mediterranean

Yantar is equipped with two types of autonomous deep-sea submersibles: the Rus and Konsul class. The ship can carry up to two such submersibles at a time, and they are likely to be deployed to the wreck of the Ursa Major. According to maritime analyst Droxford Maritime, Rear Admiral Alexander Konovalov, commander of the 29th Special Purpose Submarine Brigade, may also be aboard the Yantar. Reports from the Operational Line Telegram channel in November 2024 indicated that Konovalov was on the Yantar when it approached the Algerian coast prior to the sinking of Ursa Major.

The ship's arrival was monitored by a French NATO patrol aircraft. On Jan. 14, as the ship was en route, NATO Maritime Command’s Twitter account wrote that, “The Alliance remains vigilant across the entire Euro-Atlantic area. A French maritime patrol aircraft ATL2 monitored the Russian ship YANTAR while the vessel was sailing through the Mediterranean sea.”

The Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI) is a classified unit within the Russian Ministry of Defense. It operates a base in Olenya Guba on the Barents Sea, home to the 29th Special Purpose Submarine Brigade, which includes small submersibles and carrier submarines like the BS-64 Podmoskovye and BS-136 Orenburg. The fleet also includes the Belgorod, a special-purpose nuclear submarine capable of carrying Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicles and autonomous deep-sea stations.

The Ursa Major sank 60 nautical miles south of Cartagena in the Mediterranean on the night of Dec. 24 following an explosion. The ship's owner, the Russian state-owned defense logistics company Oboronlogistika, claimed the incident was the result of a terrorist attack. 14 of the ship’s 16 crew members were rescued. Two remain missing.

The sunken cargo ship was reportedly transporting reactor hatches for the Lider nuclear icebreaker and parts for port cranes. However, open source intelligence (OSINT) analysts speculate that the vessel was heading to the Syrian port of Tartus, from which Russia has been evacuating military equipment following the fall of the Assad regime. Another Oboronlogistika cargo ship, the Sparta, was trailing the Ursa Major by a day. The Sparta has been drifting 16 nautical miles off Tartus without permission to enter the port since Jan. 5.