Saga ship berths in Grand Harbour

The Finnish timber carrier MV Arctic Sea, allegedly seized by hijackers in July, berthed in Grand Harbour yesterday evening after Russian authorities handed the ship to its owners just outside Maltese territorial waters.

The Maltese-flagged ship was certified safe to berth in Malta after inspections were carried out by the Civil Protection Department, the police and Malta Maritime Authority inspectors.

The Arctic Sea is carrying timber and is expected to have some repair works done in Malta. It was towed into Grand Harbour by a Tug Malta vessel because of problems to its steering mechanism. The ship is berthed at Boiler Wharf and, according to the authority, there are no additional security measures around it.

The ship entered port manned by the original crew members, who have been on board since the alleged hijacking at the start of summer. A relief crew arrived last night to replace them.

The authority gave details of the ship's transfer during a press conference. This was the first time that MMA's top officials, including the chairman and the Transport Ministry's permanent secretary, spoke to the press since the summer-long mysterious saga. The cargo vessel was escorted to about 14 miles to the east of Marsaxlokk by a Russian military ship on Wednesday and CPD officials boarded at about 10.35 a.m. By 4 p.m. the Maltese personnel had certified that the vessel contained no nuclear or hazardous material.

The investigations by MMA officials and the police continued yesterday with the authority determining whether the ship was seaworthy and police officers searching for any crime-related evidence.

The ship was allegedly hijacked on July 24 off the coast of Sweden. After heading through the English Channel, radio contact was apparently lost and the 4,000-tonne ship did not deliver its timber cargo to the Algerian port of Bejaia on August 4 as scheduled.

Hijackers then threatened to blow it up if their ransom demands (said to hover around $1.5 million) were not met.

The freighter then came under Russian control when it was intercepted just off the Cape Verde islands in August. Russia charged eight suspects with kidnapping and piracy.

Both Russia and the ship owners have repeatedly denied the Arctic Sea ever carried dangerous cargo or weapons, as was claimed by certain quarters.

An MMA spokesman said the authority had full cooperation from the Russian authorities and denied there were any problems yesterday when its officials boarded the ship.

Asked whether they believed the ship had been hijacked, the MMA officials said they had no other evidence to show otherwise.

They confirmed the alleged hijackers would be prosecuted in Russia under international law since any state could intervene when a ship was taken over by pirates.

The officials also denied any contact with Israeli authorities. At one point, speculation was rife that the whole hijacking attempt was the work of Israeli secret agents who intended to thwart a weapons and nuclear cargo bound for Iran.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com