A multinational investigation is under way today into a ransom demand for a missing cargo ship believed to have sailed through the English Channel after being boarded by pirates.
The Finnish, Swedish and Maltese authorities are probing aggravated extortion and the alleged hijacking of the
Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea, which disappeared with a 15-strong Russian crew on board more than two weeks ago.
The demand - said in unconfirmed reports on Russian television to be $1.5 million US dollars - was made to Finnish company Solchart Management, which owns the vessel.
It is not yet known whether the demand is legitimate.
A statement from the Finnish Police said: “The Finnish, Swedish and Maltese authorities have conducted investigation in close co-operation into the alleged offences relating to the cargo vessel Arctic Sea.
“The investigated offences are aggravated extortion and alleged hijacking.” The statement said it was not possible to give any more detailed information about the ransom demand as the case was ongoing and the authorities did not want to endanger the safety of the ship’s crew, the fate of whom is still unknown.
Experts and maritime authorities have been left baffled since the ship vanished, sparking international search efforts.
It is believed to have come under attack twice - once as it sailed through the Baltic Sea, and a second time off the coast of Portugal - but an EU Commission spokesman said the incident had “nothing in common with traditional piracy or armed robbery at sea”.
The ship’s current location remains unclear but there were unconfirmed sightings of it about 520 miles off the Cape Verde islands off the west coast of Africa on Friday.
The vessel’s tracking system was reported to be broadcasting signals from the Bay of Biscay off France yesterday, but the French Navy dismissed this claim.
Russian maritime website Sovfrakht said the signal appeared on a tracking service at around 8.30am and lasted for an hour, but added that it was not known if the AISLive ship tracking system equipment was still actually on the ship.
EU Commission spokesman Dennis Abbott said the commission was being kept informed of developments by the
member states involved.
He added: “We can’t say any more than that because we don’t want to hinder law enforcement activities.” The
4,000-tonne vessel was meant to arrive in Bejaia in northern Algeria with its cargo of around €1 million worth of sawn timber on August 4 but it remains unknown what became of it following its last official recorded position off northern France on July 30.
The ship’s last known radio contact was with British coastguards when it made routine contact with Dover Coastguard as it was about to enter the Strait of Dover from the North Sea at 1.52pm on July 28.
Days later Interpol informed the British Coastguard that the ship had been hijacked days before in the Baltic Sea.
According to reports, it was boarded by up to 10 armed men purporting to be anti-drugs police on July 24.
Some 12 hours later, the intruders apparently left the ship on a high-speed inflatable boat and allowed the vessel to continue on its passage but with its communications equipment damaged.
By the time Interpol alerted Dover Coastguard about the apparent hijacking, the Arctic Sea had already passed through the English Channel, UK coastguards said.
Its last confirmed recording on the AISLive system off the coast of Brest, northern France, was just before 1.30am on July 30.
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev was reported to have ordered all Russian navy ships in the Atlantic to search for the missing vessel.
AP