Russia's navy this afternoon denied reports that one of its frigates was following a ship in the Atlantic Ocean similar to the Malta-flagged merchant vessel which disappeared last month after passing through the English Channel.
Mikhail Boytenko, editor of Russia's Sovfracht maritime journal, told the Vesti-24 news channel that the navy's frigate Ladny, was pursing a similar vessel south of Gibraltar.
"This information is based on the personal views of a private individual and is untrue," a spokesman for Russia's navy said.
The Kremlin has ordered Russian warships to join the hunt for the 4,000-tonne, 98-metre bulk carrier Arctic Sea, whose mysterious fate has baffled national maritime authorities across Europe and North Africa.
The Arctic Sea, carrying a cargo of timber worth $1.3 million, was supposed to have docked on Aug. 4 in the Algerian port of Bejaia.
The guided missile frigate Ladny from Russia's Black Sea Fleet, passed through the Straits of Gibraltar yesterday and is leading the search for the missing ship and its Russian crew.
"The information is being reported to Russia's naval command and is constantly being analyzed," a navy spokesman was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.
"Recommendations on search operations are regularly being transmitted to the commanders of the ships, including the commander on board the lead ship, the Ladny."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the navy "to take all necessary measures to find and free" the Arctic Sea and its crew.
The latest whisper as to the ship's whereabouts emerged earlier today when a Finnish blogger, picked up by Russian media, wrote that an unidentified vessel the same length as the Arctic Sea had arrived in the Spanish port of San Sebastian.
But port authorities there denied the rumour, saying they did not dock cargo ships. An official at the nearest commercial port of Pasajes de San Pedro added: "It is not here and never was. We have checked every dock."
With maritime authorities in Gibraltar insisting there is no record of the Arctic Sea "coming to or coming near Gibraltar", the ship is believed to have headed out to sea.
The Arctic Sea is linked to an automatic tracking system but the last signal was received on July 30, showing it was off the coast of northwestern France.
Shipping experts ruled out the possibility the ship had sunk, saying flotsam would give it away.
"I have never heard of such a situation in my life!" the editor of the respected Sovfracht Maritime Bulletin, Mikhail Voitenko,told news agencies.
But he shrugged off theories that the ship was prey to pirates operating in European waters: "Why would pirates go to such lengths when there are enough ships sitting fully loaded at the dock?"
"It was a completely unexceptional cargo," Voitenko added.
Mostly likely, the Russian crew was caught in a mafia feud over illicit goods, he said.
"I think this must be linked to an attempt to covertly ship some kind of secret cargo, and someone really didn't want this cargo to get to its destination," Voitenko said.