Baltics demand hijacking explanation

Aug 20, 2009
TBT Staff with excerpts from LETA/AFP and the MFA of Estonia

RIGA-  The Russian crew of the cargo ship "Arctic Sea", whose seizure by pirates sparked a major sea hunt, flew into Moscow along with their suspected hijackers today, as it emerged the skipper had been threatened at gunpoint.

A Russian Air Force "Ilyushin-76" transport aircraft landed at the Chkalovsky military airport outside Moscow just before midday carrying the crew members, the "Interfax" news agency reported.

Earlier, another "Ilyushin-76" had arrived carrying the two Russian, four Estonian and two Latvian residents suspecting of hijacking the ship. The planes were met by officials from various Russian security forces.

The suspected hijackers were taken out across the airport tarmac at running pace, handcuffed to members of the security forces who pushed their necks down to conceal their faces from the cameras, Russian State Television pictures showed.

Officials have said the hijackers threatened to blow up the ship and members of the crew said that the "Arctic Sea's" captain had a gun pointed at his head after trying to sound the alert when the ship was boarded.

Fierce speculation has been raging since the 4,000-ton ship vanished after setting sail from Finland on July 23, bound for Algeria with a cargo of timber worth EUR 1.2 million.

The ship was attacked the following day in Swedish territorial waters by pirates, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has said, and after that had reportedly lost radio contact.

Malta's Maritime Authority (the vessel is registered in Malta) said the ship's whereabouts had been known "for several days" before the Russian announcement of its arrest.

Shipping experts have raised numerous questions about the ship's disappearance, most notably over why it took Russia so long to confirm its recapture and whether its cargo was really timber or something more sinister.

But Moscow's ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin hit out at the speculation, saying it was perfectly logical for the Russian navy to have done everything for a crew consisting entirely of Russian citizens.

"Instead of speculating on the nature of the cargo carried by the "Arctic Sea" and thinking up all kinds of tales, everyone needs to draw important lessons from this story," he said, according to "Interfax". "And that includes European officials."

Russia had also confirmed the day earlier that the hijackers had threatened to blow up the ship if a ransom was not paid.

"Crew members confirmed that the pirates had demanded a ransom and that if this demand was not met they would blow up the ship," said a Russian Defense Ministry official.

As reported, Latvia has requested information from Russia regarding the Russian Defense Ministry's announcement that Latvian citizens were among the hijackers of the "Arctic Sea".

In the meantime, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet has confirmed that, judging from the initial reports, there were citizens of Estonia among the persons arrested for hijacking the "Arctic Sea".

Estonia's "PM Online" reported that four of the detainees were non-Estonian citizens of Estonia and another two were citizens of Russia who had Estonian residence permits.

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On August 18, the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed over a note to the Embassy of Russian Federation in Tallinn. In the note Estonia demands an explanation regarding the circumstances connected to the cargo vessel ArcticSeaand wants to get conformation about the allegations that Estonian citizens were among the people who have been detained.

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