The Russian state-owned firm that owns cargo vessel Ursa Major which recently sank in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, said a terrorist attack was behind the incident.

The Oboronlogistika company, which belongs to the Russian Defense Ministry, said it "thinks a targeted terrorist attack was committed on December 23, 2024, against the Ursa Major," it said in a statement cited by Russian news agencies, without indicating who may have been behind the act or why.

The ship, built in 2009, sank after an explosion ripped through its engine room and two of its 16 crew were missing, Russia's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Oboronlogistika had previously said that the ship had been en route to the Russian far eastern port of Vladivostok with two giant port cranes lashed to its deck.