'Ransom demand' for missing freighter

A ransom demand has been made for a freighter which disappeared more than two weeks ago, Finnish investigators said today.

It is unclear, however, whether the demand from the purported hijackers of the Arctic Sea is serious.

Markku Ranta-Aho of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation said “a ransom demand has been made” and it was addressed to the shipping company which is based in Finland. He said it was for a large sum of money.

A Russian maritime website said today that the ship’s tracking system had sent signals from the Bay of Biscay off France today, but French Marines rejected that and said the ship was probably somewhere off West Africa around Cape Verde.