Arctic Sea was never 'missing'

The hijacked Arctic Sea "never disappeared", the Malta Maritime Authority revealed yesterday, throwing a totally new light on the two-week mystery of the Maltese-registered merchant ship that was reported to have vanished off the radar.

The investigating maritime authorities of Malta, Sweden and Finland last night said they always knew of the ship's whereabouts but decided not to disclose any sensitive information "in order not to jeopardise the life and safety of the persons on board and the integrity of the ship".

In a statement, the MMA said its security committee, which had been stationed in Helsinki since early August, had closely monitored the incident.

Meanwhile, foreign media reported yesterday that eight people, who were not crew members, were arrested on suspicion of hijacking the 3,988-ton cargo ship.

The men - two Russians, four Estonian citizens and two Latvians - were arrested at sea after the Russian navy peacefully seized control of the ship on Monday in an undisclosed location believed to be off the western coast of Africa.

The Arctic Sea hit the headlines after it failed to turn up at the Algerian port of Bejaia on August 4 with its €1.16 million cargo of sawn timber, sparking a massive naval hunt.

Speculation of what could have happened included piracy, a mafia dispute or a commercial row.

The Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said: "These people (arrested), claiming their boat had engine problems, boarded the Arctic Sea and, using the threat of arms, demanded the crew follow all of their orders without condition."

It seems the crew of the Russian-owned cargo ship set a course for Africa, turning off all navigational and tracking equipment under orders from the pirates, according to AFP reports. The hijacking took place without a shot being fired.

On Sunday the website of Financial Times Deutchland quoted an unnamed source saying pirates had demanded a $1.5 million ransom.

The MMA yesterday said its maritime security committee, together with the office of the Attorney General and Foreign Affairs Ministry, in collaboration with the Finnish and Swedish authorities, will continue their investigations.

Malta, as the flag state administration, was endeavouring to ensure that the ship was granted a safe berth to allow for the required investigations into its seaworthiness.

The ship was allegedly hijacked off Sweden a day after it left port. The MMA said several hooded and armed people in police uniforms arrived on a dinghy and boarded the vessel in the middle of the night.

It said crew members were tied, gagged and blindfolded, with some seriously injured and claiming to have been aggressively questioned about drug trafficking. They were later released and locked in cabins until the men rummaged through the vessel.

Four days later, on July 28, British coastguards made routine radio contact with the ship as it passed through the English Channel.

The last signal was received from the ship two days later off northwestern France.

The following day Swedish police contacted the ship in the last known exchange, but details have not been revealed.