Algeria-bound ’missing cargo ship’ spotted off Cape Verde

This follows a statement Friday by the French Defence Ministry, confirming that the Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea, carrying £1.3 million worth of timber and 15 crew members ; whose last known radio contact was with British Coastguard, has been sighted off the West African coast, off Cape Verde.

Experts and maritime authorities have been baffled since the 4,000-tonne vessel and the crew disappeared after its last official recorded positioning off northern France on July 30.

Numerous theories have been put forward to explain the vessel’s disappearance, ranging from it being boarded by pirates to a commercial dispute.

The Russian crew was spotted 400 nautical miles off one of the Cape Verde islands, west of Senegal, according to a spokesman for the French Defence Ministry, Jerome Baroe.

He said details had been relayed to authorities in Russia and Malta, where the ship is registered.

Russia’s ambassador to the Cape Verde islands, Alexander Karpushin, also confirmed that a Russian naval frigate was heading for the area. “But I have no information yet on the Arctic Sea’s location.”

The crew had reported that the ship was boarded on July 24 in Swedish waters by a dozen masked men, who tied them up, questioned them about drug trafficking, beat them and carried out an extensive search before leaving 12 hours later in a high-speed inflatable boat.

The reported attack raised concerns because piracy is almost unheard of in European waters, and it was not reported until after the freighter had passed through the Channel, where it subsequently went missing.

Last contact was made on July 29, to the British coastguard.

It has been suggested the vessel may have come under a second attack, prompting radio calls apparently received from the ship, which had supposedly been under attack twice, the first time off the Swedish coast and then off the Portuguese coast,” said Martin Selmayr, a spokesman for the European Commission.

There has been intense speculation over the ship’s fate, with theories ranging from a commercial dispute to a secret cargo. The ship had been due to make port in Algeria on August 4.

The ship made routine radio 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.

Official reports say it was boarded by up to 10 armed men suspected to be anti-drugs police on July 24.

Several 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.

The ship failed to reach its destination at Bejaia in northern Algeria on August 4, as a supposed crew member on board the vessel told Dover Coastguard when radio contact was made.

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev ordered all Russian navy ships in the Atlantic to search for the missing vessel.

Mark Clark of the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), said Dover Coastguard was unsuspecting of anything untoward as a supposed crew member radioed before the ship journeyed through the Channel.