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The sea rescue operation was led by the coordination center in Cartagena, which instructed the Norwegian-flagged vessel not to take the Russian crew on board, since their boat was already on its way, the company shared details.

Two crew members of the sunken cargo ship Ursa Major are still missing. Two crew members of the Ursa Major, a cargo ship that sank in the Mediterranean Sea, have still not been found.

Meanwhile, the row relating to the alleged indifference of the Norwegians to the fate of the stricken Russian vessel is showing no sign of abating,

Norway is trying to justify itself for a gross violation of international law, political scientist Yevgeny Mikhailov believes.

‘After representatives of the Russian side officially expressed their dissatisfaction with the fact that the Norwegian company did not help rescue the seamen from our ship, the Norwegians were worried. In fact, this was a big blunder and a rabid Russophobic policy of the entire state,’ he believes.

According to the political scientist, the Norwegian side is downplaying and steering away from the topic. Suggesting that the matter be referred to the international courts.

Others are sceptical. The Russian side has never forgiven the West for shooting down Malaysian airline MH17 on July 17 2014 with the loss of 283 passengers and 15 crew.

All the hard and circumstantial evidence indicated the airliner had been shot down over Ukrainian territory using a Ukrainian-owned Soviet-era BUK missile which launch site was afterwards magically transported to Russia where it allegedly disappeared as did Ukraine’s flight controllers afterwards.

Nothing to fear nothing to hide. The Western (Dutch) inquiry refused to allow Russian participation in the inquiry, was selective about the evidence and finally charged that responsibility for the disaster was Russia.

However, no one ever produced evidence that Russia benefited from carrying out the attack. On the other hand, the United States got the excuse hey desperately needed to ignite a Ukrainian proxy war against Russia. Washigton’s wish was granted. Not a scrap of credible Russian evidence was allowed. The deeply flawed inquiry was quietly dropped.

Following the sabotage of the Nord Stream II Baltic Sea pipeline the Russian side was excluded from the inquiry and no Russian evidence was allowed despite the incident affecting the Russian-owned pipeline.

US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Victoria Nuland openly bragged that the sabotage was carried out by NATO.

‘Now the Norwegian side is trying to justify itself as best it can for such a gross violation of international law. The Norwegians did not come to the rescue and this is a bad sign. Accordingly, I think now the Russian side will draw certain conclusions and make certain requests to international courts,’ Mikhailov added.

Whilst the Norwegian side claimed that the Spanish authorities had instructed the Norwegian vessel to cease the rescue the Norwegian authorities merely cited ‘certain prohibitions’ lacking specifics

Captain Dandykin criticizes Norwegian sailors for refusing to rescue Russians from Ursa Major. Captain 1st rank (retired) Vasily Dandykin criticized Norwegian sailors for refusing to rescue Russians from Ursa Major.

‘Sailors all over the world adhere to an unspoken, but practically always and everywhere observed ‘ocean law’, which prescribes rescuing those in distress,’ he said in an interview with the Vzglyad newspaper.

As Dandykin noted, it is possible that the Norwegian crew violated the International Convention on Salvage. According to him, the Spaniards distinguished themselves in this situation by saving the Russians.

Bulk ship Management said in a statement that the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre had ordered the captain ‘not to take on board the crew of the vessel in distress.’

Russian-speaking people were part of the Norwegian crew of the Oslo Carrier 3, which refused to rescue the Russian sailors of the bulk carrier Ursa Major. They were nearest the scene. Indeed, the Russian lifeboat 100 km from land first made its way to the Norwegian vessel as it was much closer.

The account follows: ‘When the lifeboat approached the vessel (part of whose crew was Russian-speaking) refused to accept the Ursa Major crew members, citing some kind of ban,’

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that  such an act by the Norwegians cannot be forgiven . The president’s press secretary  Dmitry Peskov  called the situation outrageous.

University of Helsinki professor and geopolitical expert  Tuomas Malinen criticized the Norwegian sailors, calling them evil and abnormal.

‘Today, international maritime law does not work. Naturally, under normal conditions, this Russophobic policy that currently exists would be considered a crime.

Even during the war, everyone who was shipwrecked was taken on board. Even if they were Germans, they were taken on board, as long as they stayed alive because there was international maritime law, and then they sorted it out,’ the parliamentarian noted.

According to him, this situation showed how ‘Russophobic policies are going off the charts’ in the West.

‘Even the sailors abandoned their own brothers in the profession to perish. This country must be punished. Our side must do everything to ensure that the ship owner and captain are punished within the framework of international law.

If a ship is in distress, then people must be rescued, no matter which country. The Norwegians will be punished as they deserve,’ Vodolatsky believes.

As the Kremlin representative emphasized, such actions deserve total condemnation.

‘If there really was a failure to provide assistance to those in distress at sea, this is contrary to all maritime laws. This is an outrageous case that deserves total condemnation,’ he said. 

Ex-British Merchant Seaman Michael Walsh – a deckhand for several years – says that 14 Russian seamen (two were presumed lost at sea) were beside the Norwegian: for how long?

Even a portly pilot in less than a minute will effortlessly clamber up a Pilot’s rope ladder to the safety and comfort of a vessel’s deck. How bizarre to confine traumatized seamen to remain beside their ship without inviting them aboard. Frankly, it is absurd.

The Norwegian ship’s crew members cited unsubstantiated ‘certain prohibitions.’

Was the Russian vessel sabotaged as was the Nord Stream II pipeline? State Duma deputy and former naval officer Andrei Kolesnik told the Vzglyad newspaper that the speed at which such a large vessel as the Ursa Major sank was suspicious.

‘If this had been the main power plant, the ship would not have sunk so quickly,’ he noted.

At the same time, Kolesnik added that final conclusions about the causes of the incident can only be made after inspecting the dry cargo ship. Earlier, a case was opened regarding the sinking of the Ursa Major dry cargo ship in the Mediterranean Sea .

Responsibility for conducting a search and rescue operation in the area where the Russian cargo ship Ursa Major sank has been transferred to a Russian military ship . PLEASE SHARE OUR STORIES.