Russian navy arrests Arctic Sea ‘hijackers’

THE Russian navy has arrested eight men accused of hijacking the Arctic Sea freighter near Sweden and forcing the crew to sail to west Africa — the latest twist in a puzzling maritime mystery.

Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said the suspected hijackers were detained by a Russian naval vessel that reached the Russian-crewed freighter on Monday about 480 km off Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean. That is thousands of kilometres from the Algerian port where the ship was supposed to dock two weeks ago.

The suspected hijackers — citizens of Estonia, Latvia and Russia — were reportedly arrested without a shot being fired. The ship’s 15 Russian crew members were safe and are being questioned.