The plot thickens as officials in Moscow confirm that a Russian cargo ship named “Ursa Major” sank in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria following an engine room explosion.

Reuters cited the Russian Foreign Ministry, which said Ursa Major was transiting near the Strait of Gibraltar to the Russian far-eastern port of Vladivostok when the engine room blast occurred. It indicated that 14 of the ship’s 16 crew members had been rescued, with two sailors missing.

Unverified video footage posted on X shows the vessel listing to its starboard side with the stern partially below the waterline.

On Monday, Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate first reported Ursa Major had been sent to Syria to retrieve military weapons after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime earlier this month. It noted an engine room issue occurred.

What caused the engine room explosion remains a mystery.

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In a Telegram post on Monday, Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate reported that a cargo ship, sent to Syria to retrieve Russian military equipment, experienced an engine failure while transiting near the Strait of Gibraltar, a narrow waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

“The cargo ship Sparta, sent by Russia to retrieve its weapons and equipment from Syria, broke down off the coast of Portugal due to a malfunction in the fuel pipe of its main engine,” Ukrainian intelligence wrote in the update.

The ship tracking website Marine Traffic shows the Vladivostok-bound cargo ship, Ursa Major, previously registered as Sparta III, drifting on the high seas near Portugal. A tug vessel appears to be approaching Sparta.