Arctic Sea sails out

The Arctic Sea, the Finnish-owned timber-carrying vessel that was at the centre of a hijacking saga early this summer, left Malta at about 2.15 p.m. yesterday after repair works on its communication system were completed.

The Maltese-flagged ship was allegedly hijacked by eight men, demanding $1.5 million in ransom, off the coast of Sweden on July 24. Radio contact was lost after the ship navigated the English Channel.

It was supposed to have delivered its cargo of timber to the port of Bejaia in Algeria on August 4 but this never happened due to the alleged hijacking. It is now on its way to deliver its cargo, according to the Medsea shipping agency.

Russian authorities handed the ship over to its owners just outside Maltese territorial waters on October 29. By 4 p.m. that day, members of the Civil Protection Department and Malta Maritime Authority inspectors had boarded it and confirmed it was not carrying any hazardous material or weapons as had been reported by some segments of the international media.

The alleged hijackers are due to be prosecuted in Russia under international law, which allows any state to intervene in the event of a hijacking.