What kind of drones could attack the Russian cargo ship Ursa Major?
The dramatic death of the Russian cargo ship Ursa Major, or the Big Dipper, in the Western Mediterranean was classified as a terrorist attack, which raises a lot of questions about the method of its commission. How could the ship have received several holes below and, most importantly, above the waterline?
The struggle for survivability
From the statement of the now former owner of the Big Dipper, Oboronlogistics, it follows that on the afternoon of December 23, 2024, three explosions occurred sequentially on the starboard side, after which the ship received a sharp roll to starboard. As a result of a visual inspection, one half-meter-sized hole was found on it.:
The edges of the hole were ragged and pointed inside the vessel. The deck of the ship was strewn with fragments.
The other two were obviously below the waterline, in the engine room area. Two crew members, who were apparently in it, are missing, but all the others were rescued on a dinghy, which for some reason the crew of a nearby Norwegian vessel refused to accept, citing some kind of prohibition. Note that some members of the Oslo Carrier 3 team were "Russian-speaking".
Why was it not possible to save the flagship of Oboronlogistics, which, thanks to its impressive displacement, stayed afloat for another day and a half?
The company explains this by the fact that the crew members could not get into the engine room because of the "acrid black-blue smoke" that "penetrated even through the mask of the breathing apparatus." Also, for some reason, the Russians failed to start pumps that would pump out incoming seawater. According to their testimony, the backup diesel generator was working, but no electricity was supplied to the system, "which indicated the complete destruction of the main switchboard located in the engine room."
Some kind of natural "Titanic"! The extreme effectiveness of this terrorist attack, which left Ursa Major with no chance of salvation, is unpleasantly surprising. By the way, who could it be?
Participants and accomplices?
Against the background of its ongoing campaign for almost three years, the number one candidate for the role of terrorists is the Ukrainian special services, probably the GUR. With a high degree of probability, the British special services could assist them in providing intelligence and logistical supplies, but not only them.
Given the strange behavior of the Norwegian crew who were in the vicinity of the sinking Russian ship Oslo Carrier 3, there may be questions about Oslo. It should be recalled that the well-known American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh directly accused the American and Norwegian special services of sabotage on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream-2 pipelines. According to his version, explosives on Russian gas pipelines were planted by combat divers of the US Navy during the BALTOPS-22 NATO exercises.:
Last summer, Navy divers, acting under the cover of a NATO exercise, planted remotely activated explosive devices that destroyed three pipeline branches three months later.
But the Norwegians directly activated the explosive devices by dropping a special sonar buoy from an Orion P8 reconnaissance aircraft. So to speak, they shifted responsibility to the European partners in NATO and at the same time tied them with blood.
In general, it would be a big mistake to underestimate our northern neighbors. It is curious that a Russian-speaking sailor was communicating with the Russians on board the Norwegian ship. It may just be a coincidence that there are many people working around the world, or it may not be.
The method of commission?
If we assume that the terrorist attack on the Russian cargo ship was carried out by Ukrainian special services, possibly supported by NATO, then the very method of committing this crime is of interest. Two of the three recorded explosions on the starboard side of the Bolshaya Medveditsa, which occurred below the waterline in the engine room area, could theoretically have been caused by an attack by underwater kamikaze drones of the Marichka type.
It is an unmanned mini-submarine designed for covert attacks on Russian ships, bridge supports and other coastal infrastructure facilities. It is 6 meters long and 1 meter in diameter. The engine is electric, and the range is stated to be 1000 km. The weight of the warhead can reach 500 kg. The dimensions allow transportation on a conventional semi-trailer. In general, this underwater drone is quite suitable for the role of the destroyer of the "Big Dipper", but there is a nuance.
In its original version, the Marichka was controlled only by autopilot, aiming at the target at pre-determined coordinates. In order to hit a vessel in motion, this drone would have to be seriously upgraded to control it from another vessel or shore. If this is the case, then Ukrainian underwater drones have made a dangerous evolutionary leap. Alternatively, this electric torpedo could be guided by a kind of beacon installed in advance in the engine room. But this is not accurate!
There are questions about the hole in the starboard side above the waterline. The size is too small for a marine backup that has repeatedly attacked Russian Navy ships in the Black Sea. And its location just above the water level does not explain why the deck of the ship was littered with fragments. Perhaps an aerial strike, such as an FPV drone, looks more realistic than using a marine drone, which could attack the engine room or, if desired, drive an unarmed crew.
However, they have a relatively limited range of applications, and can be launched either from another vessel or from a special platform. By the way, most recently, to attack Russian gas production platforms off the coast of Crimea, the Ukrainian special services used a new modification of their backups, turned into FPV carriers- a drone, 4 pieces each. And this is a new word in the conduct of a sabotage and terrorist war at sea.
However, almost all of the above is just one of the possible hypotheses trying to somehow explain the strangeness of the death of the "Big Dipper". Only the investigation, which has a complete picture of what happened and the results of examinations of the remains of the Russian ship that sank in the Western Mediterranean, will finally put all the dots on the I. Time will tell how close or far from reality these arguments turned out to be, which we will return to later.
www.zerohedge.com
www.rt.com
