A Russian cargo vessel linked to arms shipments has lost power off Turkey.
Turkey’s Directorate General of Coastal Safety said the 8,900-dwt Sparta IV (built 2018) suffered mechanical failure on 20 May en route from Syria to Russia.
Photos show a tug with a line attached to the Russia-flag multipurpose general cargo ship off Canakkale in the Dardanelles Strait.
The 122-metre vessel was attended by the Turkeli tug and two other rescue boats.
AIS data showed it at anchor off Canakkale on Monday morning.
The Sparta IV was due to reach Novorossiysk on 23 May.
The vessel is owned by SC-South in the Black Sea port city.
The company was sanctioned by the US last May, together with its four ships.
Naval News reported in March that the Sparta IV had entered the Black Sea with a suspected load of war supplies for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It had been loaded in Syria and sailed with a Russian Navy escort.
Military vehicles on board
Naval News said it had seen evidence indicating that the Sparta IV was carrying military vehicles.
Russian media had previously reported that the ship arrived in Tartus in Syria carrying humanitarian aid following the February earthquake.
Naval News claimed that it was then loaded at the Russian naval base at Tartus.
The declared draught as it sailed through the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey suggested a heavy load.
SC-South’s sanctioned parent, Oboronlogistika, has been contacted for comment.
In December, another SC-South vessel, the 9,500-dwt Ursa Major (built 2009), was denied entry by Bangladesh as it attempted to deliver a cargo for the country’s first nuclear power plant.
The Sparta IV has no port state control detentions on its record but has undergone no checks since December 2021.
