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The ship reported to have been hijacked in the Baltic Sea may have been targeted for its secret cargo, it was claimed today.
The Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea and its 15-strong Russian crew were said to have been seized three weeks ago. British Coastguards had the last known radio contact with the 4,000-tonne vessel. Its last official recorded position was off northern France on 30 July.
Mikhail Voitenko, editor of Russia's Sovfracht maritime bulletin, said the ship, carrying about £1 million of sawn timber from Finland to Algeria, might have been targeted because it was also loaded with an unknown cargo.
He told the Russia Today news channel: "We have to remember that before loading in Finland the vessel stayed for two weeks in a shipyard in Kaliningrad. I'm sure it cannot be drugs or illegal criminal cargo. I think it is something much more expensive and dangerous.
"It seems some third party didn't want this transit to be fulfilled so they made this situation highly sophisticated and very complicated."
The Arctic Sea made routine radio contact with Dover Coastguard as it was about to enter the Strait of Dover from the North Sea at 1.52pm on 28 July. Days later Interpol informed the British coastguards the ship had been hijacked days before in the Baltic Sea.
According to reports, it was boarded by up to 10 armed men purporting to be anti-drugs police on 24 July.
Some 12 hours later, the intruders apparently left the ship on an inflatable boat and let the vessel continue on its passage but with its communications equipment damaged. By the time Interpol alerted Dover Coastguard about the apparent hijacking, the Arctic Sea had already passed through the English Channel, UK coastguards said.
The ship failed to reach its destination at Bejaia in northern Algeria on 4 August.Its whereabouts now remains a mystery. Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has ordered all Russian navy vessels in the Atlantic - reportedly including two nuclear submarines - to search for the missing ship.
Reader views (2)
Exactly my thoughts Frank.
Question is who stopped it?
- Russell, London, 13/08/2009 16:48
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Nuclear material from Russia to Iran with love.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 13/08/2009 15:34
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