Vanished ship found- eight arrested

Aug 18, 2009
TBT Staff

MOSCOW - The search for the merchant ship "Arctic Sea" is  over, after weeks of hunting. Russia has arrested eight people who hijacked the merchant ship "Arctic Sea" on July 24 with Russian, Latvian and Estonian citizens on board announced  the Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.

"All crew members are alive, and they are feeling well. They were not under armed control," he said.

"They are being questioned to clarify all the circumstances of the disappearance. We will explain what happened with it, why communications with it were lost, why it changed its itinerary."

According to the Associated Press, Russia's navy on August 17 found the missing ship, whose disappearance confused maritime authorities across Europe for over two weeks, in the Atlantic Ocean 300 miles from the Cape Verdeislands.

The Maltese-registered vessel, carrying a1.3-million dollars of timber, was supposed to have docked on August 4 in the Algerian port of Bejaiabut never reached their destination.

forgot password?