Monday, August 17, 2009

Russian Ship Found But Mystery Remains

The drama surrounding the Arctic Sea – the cargo ship with the Russian crew that went missing two weeks ago in the Atlantic – is over, even though the mystery is not.

Russia’s Defense Minister announced earlier today that the Arctic Sea had been found 300 miles off the Cape Verde islands in the Atlantic more than 1,000 miles away from the port it was suppose to arrive at on August 4th, Bejala, Algeria. The 15-member crew was transferred to a Russian Navy ship and are said to be in good condition.

So the question still remains about just what the heck happened to them during these past two weeks. Over the weekend, the Arctic Sea’s owners in Finland reported they received a ransom demand for the ship and crew, but they couldn’t confirm if the demand was legitimate or not. The ship’s crew reported that they were boarded by armed men claiming to be police shortly after leaving port, and according to some reports the ship may have been boarded a second time off the coast of Portugal. Russian officials said they are talking with the crew about the events of the last two weeks, but had no further comment. Speculation has ranged from the ship being in the middle of a bare-knuckles business dispute to it being the target of a pirate attack.
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