Russia arrested eight people for hijacking the merchant ship Arctic Sea, Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies yesterday.
Russia’s navy found the missing vessel on Monday. The ship’s disappearance in the Atlantic near the Cape Verde islands had baffled maritime authorities across Europe for two weeks.
The hijackers included nationals from Russia, Estonia and Latvia, Serdyukov was quoted as telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a briefing.
Itar-Tass news agency quoted Serdyukov as saying the Arctic Sea had been boarded at night on July 24 in Swedish territorial waters by four Estonians, two Latvians and two Russians who approached in an inflatable speed boat. They were allowed to board the vessel after pretending to have been victims of an emergency at sea and then forced the crew at gunpoint to follow their instructions.
Radio contact with the vessel had been reported with the British coast guard on July 28 as the Arctic Sea was passing through the English Channel, but the ship then disappeared.
“The ship then moved in the route dictated by the hijackers toward Africa, with its navigation equipment shut off,” Serdyukov was quoted as saying.
The Maltese-registered ship’s 15-man crew were freed on Monday by Russian forces near Cape Verde.
The disappearance of the Arctic Sea and its Russian crew sparked speculation of foul play or even a secret cargo targeted by pirates or spies.
The freighter left Finland on July 23, carrying a US$1.3 million cargo of timber, and was supposed to have docked on Aug. 4 in the Algerian port of Bejaia.
Finnish police said yesterday they were still awaiting official confirmation of the arrests.
They also declined to comment on the size of any ransom, or as to whether any arrests were planned in Finland.
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