Missing Russian Vessel, Arctic Sea, Hijacked, Crew Rescued

2009-08-18 16:04:18

MOSCOW, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) --

The missing Russian vessel, the Arctic Sea, had been hijacked by a group of Estonians, Latvians and Russians, and was rescued by the Russian navy, Russia's defense minister said Tuesday.

Anatoly Serdyukov said the Russian crew was rescued without a single shot, and the navy arrested eight people in connection with the hijacking that occurred in Swedish territorial waters, news agencies reported.

Serdyukov said the suspected hijackers approached the Arctic Sea in an inflatable craft near Sweden at 11:00 p.m. Moscow time (1900 GMT) on July 24. The armed invaders boarded the freighter claiming a malfunction with their boat, the Interfax news agency reported.

"The hijackers boarded the Arctic Sea, threatened the crew with weapons and demanded that their orders be followed," the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Serdyukov as saying in a briefing with President Dmitry Medvedev.

The Arctic Sea was spotted by a warship Monday about 300 miles (480 km) off Cape Verde, about 3,200 km from the Algerian port where it had been due to dock Aug. 4, during a joint operation by the Russian navy and air force, the minister said.

Serdyukov told the president that the 15 crew members were unharmed and had been taken aboard the warship along with the suspected hijackers for questioning.

"The Arctic Sea was following a route toward the African continent with all communications and navigation equipment shut down, as ordered by the hijackers," he said.

The Maltese-flagged ship set sail from Finland on July 23 carrying a large load of timber. It was due to arrive at the Algerian port of Bejaia on Aug. 4.

The disappearance of the 98-meter cargo ship puzzled authorities across Europe. Speculation on the freighter's whereabouts ranged from its being seized by pirates to involvement in a commercial dispute.

Editor: Anne Tang

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