Russian Military Cargo Ship Draws Attention Lingering for Days off Sardinia

A Russian-flagged cargo ship, well-known for its military support operations, was lingering off the coast of Sardinia for nearly a week. While the ship has not violated any regulations, its unusual pattern of behavior has drawn attention, including it appears from the Italian Navy.

The Sparta IV (8,870 dwt) is one of a series of Russian cargo ships frequently linked to the movement of military equipment. The ship was spotted making numerous trips to Syria and, along with other ships of the series, was believed to have supported the withdrawal of Russian troops and material after the fall of the Asad government in Syria. The United States sanctioned the Sparta IV in May 2022, along with its owners SK-Yug, which is part of the Russian company Oboronlogistika.

The vessel’s apparent diversion in the Mediterranean on February 4 into the Tyrrhenian Sea drew immediate attention. More so when the vessel was then spotted sailing back and forth in a close loop in the area south of Olbia, a coastal city in northeast Sardinia, Italy. The vessel’s AIS signal has consistently shown it heading for Kaliningrad, Russia.

Sparta IV was going back and forth for days off the coast (MarineTraffic)

Open source media quickly said the ship appeared to be sailing with the Russian destroyer RFS Severomorsk and the tanker Kama, which also supports the Russian military. Some speculation was that there was also a Russian submarine in the area.

Some of the media reports also speculated that the ship was near critical subsea infrastructure. They said there were cables for power and communications, while others said the area did not have critical assets.

Reporting quickly ruled out local weather as the cause of the vessel’s delay and apparent holding pattern.

L’Operazione Mediterraneo Sicuro (#OMS) prosegue senza soluzione di continuità con attività di controllo ravvicinato delle navi militari della Federazione Russa e delle unità mercantili della cosiddetta “flotta ombra” presenti nel Mediterraneo.

L’azione di sorveglianza è… pic.twitter.com/bfc1K3OUIW
— Marina Militare (@ItalianNavy) February 5, 2026

The Italian Navy did not directly confirm the media reports and its interest in the vessel but did take the unusual step of making a social media posting stressing that its Safe Mediterranean Operation “continues without interruption with close-range surveillance activities of Russian Federation military vessels and merchant units.” One of the pictures included showed an Italian warship sailing in close proximity to the Severomorsk. Unconfirmed reports said Italy's Guardia di Finanza had a surveillance airplane circling over the region off Sardinia for about one hour.

The Italian Navy highlighted that Operate Safe Mediterranean had been underway to monitor the region since 2022. They said it was built on and expanded an effort that had been started in 2015.

The mystery of what was going on with the Russian vessel persisted through the weekend, drawing increased attention from the Italian media.

Late on Monday, February 9, the vessel appears to have gotten back underway. The AIS signal shows it sailing at better than 11 knots, and as of the evening, it appeared to be rounding Cagliari on the southern tip of Sardinia. What the vessel was doing while it was holding in the Tyrrhenian Sea remains unclear.

Top photo courtesy of VesselFinder by Wanderer.