Russian navy find missing ship off African coast

THE freighter that sparked a high-seas mystery when it disappeared nearly three weeks ago has been found by a Russian naval frigate off the West African coast.

The Arctic Sea’s 15 Russian crew members, last heard from July 28, were alive and now aboard the navy ship, defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov said.

He did not give details about what happened, saying the full story could be made public at a later date.

The crew reported being attacked on July 24 in the Baltic Sea by masked men who beat them and questioned them about drugs before leaving 12 hours later, Swedish police have said.

The Russian minister said crew was not under armed control when the ship was found on Sunday night some 480km away from the island nation of Cape Verde.

“The crew is alive, all are alive and healthy,” Serdyukov said.

The crew members were taken aboard the Russian navy frigate Ladny, news agencies in Russia reported.

The disappearance of the 320-foot Arctic Sea perplexed experts and officials, with speculation about what happened ranging from its being seized by pirates to being involved in a murky commercial dispute.

It had been due to dock on August 4 in an Algerian port, but its vanishing brought little attention until Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week ordered the Russian military to take “all necessary measures” to find the freighter. Cape Verde is about 4,000km southwest of Algeria’s coast.

Finnish investigators reported on Saturday that the ship’s owners had received a ransom demand. But it was not clear if the demand came from people who actually held the ship, or from opportunistic charlatans.