The Russian ship Sparta has reappeared after 4 days

On December 29th at 16:19 UTC, the Russian ship Sparta transmitted its position for the last time after zigzagging in the hours prior, abandoning its original eastbound route. Shortly before, the ship had changed its declared destination from Port Said to a generic “To order” (here our article).

Attention on this vessel was high, as it was likely heading towards the Syrian port of Tartus. Accompanying Sparta were two other Russian Navy transport ships and the cargo vessel Ursa Maior, which sank under unknown circumstances shortly after entering the Mediterranean.

After disappearing for four days, Sparta resumed transmitting its position this afternoon at 13:13 UTC. The ship is now sailing south of Crete at a speed of 10 knots, heading 90°.

6⃣

🌍Eastern Mediterranean sea
Sparta case: update position.
🧮 Four days after the russian ro ro cargo has reappeared in our AIS SAT monitor 🔍

📴 No AIS data out b/t:
2024-12-29 1619z
2025-01-02 1313z

Last status ship
🚢#Sparta 🇷🇺
📁 IMO 9268710
🛰️ AIS SAT data out
🪧… pic.twitter.com/3XuuKJ29kb

— Sergio Scandura (@scandura) January 2, 2025

What Sparta did during those four days—especially given that the distance between its last known position and the current one would only take a few hours to traverse—remains a mystery, as does the reason for its sudden route change.