ALEX MCALLISTER

A Russian cargo ship that ran into trouble on Monday in the Mediterranean Sea and later sank was rocked by a series of three explosions in "an act of terrorism," state news agency RIA cited the vessel's owner as saying on Wednesday.Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the "Ursa Major," built in 2009, sank after an explosion ripped through its engine room and that two of its 16 crew were missing.RIA cited Oboronlogistika, the ship's ultimate owner and a company that is part of the Russian Defence Ministry's military construction operations, as saying on Wednesday that the vessel had been targeted in "a terrorist act.

A Russian cargo ship called Ursa Major sank in the Mediterranean Sea after an explosion ripped through its engine room and two of its crew are still missing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.The vessel, built in 2009, was controlled by Oboronlogistika, a company that is part of the Russian Defence Ministry's military construction operations, which had previously said it was en route to the Russian far eastern port of Vladivostok with two giant port cranes lashed to its deck.The Foreign Ministry's crisis centre said in a statement that 14 of the ship's 16 crew members had been rescued and brought to Spain, but that two were still missing.

Abu Dhabi's Al Seer Marine, a subsidiary of International Holding Company (IHC), has taken delivery of two new Medium Range (MR) tankers, M.T. Saiph and her sister ship from K Shipbuilding Korea.Each vessel is equipped with an Exhaust Gas Cleaning System (EGCS) and engineered to accommodate alternative fuels such as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), ammonia, and methanol.With a deadweight of 49,757 MT each, the two modern vessels are IMO II/III oil and chemical tankers carefully engineered to carry six fully segregated grades of cargo for optimal global operations.

Turkey is aiming to strike a maritime demarcation agreement with Syria after a permanent government is formed in Damascus, Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on Tuesday.Turkey, which backed Syrian rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad this month after a 13-year civil war, has been in close contact with the new interim administration of its neighbour, including Turkey's intelligence chief and foreign minister meeting with de-facto Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last week said Ankara would improve ties with Syria including in trade, energy and defence.

Total exports of Russian gas to European countries have so far been 18-20% higher this year than in 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday.In January to November, supplies of pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exceeded 50 billion cubic metres, Novak said."Despite all the statements and sanctions pressure because gas is a highly ecological product, it is in demand. And Russian gas is the most cost-efficient, both in terms of logistics and the price," he said on state TV station Rossiya-24.The increase was from a very low base in 2023, when Russian pipeline gas supplies to Europe plummeted by 55.6% to 28.