RIGA - Swedish shipping companies were told to exercise the same vigilance in the Baltic sea as they would off the coast of Somalia after the Maltese-flagged freighter Arctic Sea was hijacked off the Swedish Baltic sea coast last month, reports news agency Bloomberg.
The Swedish Shipowners' Association told its members that, while the July 24 hijacking was probably an isolated incident, such events could create an 'epidemic effect' by inspiring copycat attacks, said head of security Tryggve Ahlman, at the Gothenburg, Sweden-based association.
"We've talked with the companies that are active in these waters," said Ahlman, "They've come to us with questions and it's only natural that they increase their readiness. The procedures they have in the Gulf of Aden should be observed everywhere."
The Russian navy located the Arctic Sea, operated by Helsinki-based Oy Solchart Management AB, on Aug. 17 near the Cape Verde islands off the west coast of Africa, and are holding eight suspected hijackers, reports news agency LETA.
"The armed group had boarded the freighter off Sweden on July 24, then forced the crew to change course toward Africa, turning off the navigational equipment," said Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. The ship, with a crew of 15 Russian sailors, had been en route from Finland to Algeria.
The hijackers demanded a ransom of 1.5 million dollars from the ship's insurer, Renaissance Insurance, said company vice president for security Vladimir Dushin. Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed that a ransom demand had been made, and that the hijackers threatened to blow up the ship if it wasn't paid, reported Interfax.
The Arctic Sea's 25-day odyssey sparked a wave of international speculation about its fate, including a reported sighting at the Spanish port of San Sebastian and a possible second attack off Portugal. Swedes were shocked by the attack in their waters, since hijackings had been unheard of since the 17th and 18th centuries, noted Ahlman.
Some Swedish shippers said that while they were monitoring the security situation, their fleets were safe. "We're following developments with interest, but we see no threats against any of our ships," said chief executive officer of Karlstad-based Ahlmark Lines Haakan Thorell.
Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the Russian government's newspaper of record, reported that the ship was steered to the Cape Verde area because the waters there are difficult for submarines to navigate. Russia initially planned to involve its submarine fleet in the search, the newspaper said. Radio contact was lost when the freighter was off the coast of Portugal.
Swedish police didn't learn about the hijacking for several days after it occurred, as Solchart sent the information through intermediaries, including the Russian embassies in Helsinki and Stockholm and the Swedish Foreign Ministry, Ahlman said. If they had been alerted earlier, Swedish authorities might have been able to apprehend the freighter in the Baltic sea, he said.
Two Russians, four Estonians and two Latvian residents (one a citizen) are being held as suspects in the hijacking, reports Interfax. The Russian Air Force flew the hijackers to a military airport outside Moscow.
The suspected hijackers were taken out across the airport tarmac at a running pace, handcuffed to members of the security forces who pushed their heads down to conceal their faces from the cameras, as Russian State Television pictures showed.
Questions remain as to what cargo the ship was actually carrying. Official reports say that the cargo was timber, with a value of 1.2 million euros, however, BBC radio reports that some analysts believe the ship was carrying weapons.
Malta's Maritime Authority 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.
