'Pirate' ship is found at last

A “pirate” freighter that went missing nearly three weeks ago has been found near Cape Verde with its crew is alive and well, Russia said today.

Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said that the Arctic Sea was about 300 miles from the island nation off West Africa.

The ship’s 15-man Russian crew was taken aboard a Russian naval vessel.

He did not give details on what might have happened to the ship, which was last heard from on July 28.

The crew earlier had reported the freighter was raided by masked men, but that the attackers departed before the ship left the Baltic Sea en route to Algeria.

The Russian minister said the crew was not under armed control when the ship was found.

The disappearance of the 320-foot Arctic Sea perplexed experts and officials across Europe, 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 Russia last week ordered its military to take “all necessary measures” to find the freighter.

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.