Friday - August 14, 2009

Half a Story Is Better Than None

A Russian-manned cargo ship that vanished last month in the Atlantic was found Friday near Cape Verde off the coast of West Africa, according to French and Russian officials. There was no immediate information about the condition of the crew or whether there was anyone else on board.

The Arctic Sea — carrying a load of timber and 15 Russian sailors — disappeared after passing through the English Channel on July 28. The Maltese-flagged freighter sent radio messages as it sailed along the coasts of France and Portugal, but then all contact was lost.

“Cape Verde coast guards said they have located the boat” about 520 miles (840 kilometers) off Cape Verde, said French Defense Ministry spokesman Capt. Jerome Baroe. France was involved in search efforts together with several other countries.

Two military officials in Brussels separately confirmed the ship had been tracked and located off West Africa. The officials asked not to be named while the operation was ongoing.

Russian naval ships were ordered to pursue the ship after the Cape Verde coast guard reported the freighter was outside the country’s territorial waters to the north, Russian Ambassador to Cape Verde Alexander Karpushin told The Associated Press.

The ambassador did not say when the naval ships were expected to arrive in the area. The four ships involved in the search, including a frigate, had entered the Atlantic late Tuesday. Their whereabouts Friday were unknown.

It also was unclear whether the freighter had laid anchor or was continuing to sail south. It had enough food and fuel to last through the end of the month, the ship’s Russian operator said.

The ship’s crew had reported a June 24 attack in Swedish waters by up to a dozen masked men, who they said tied them up, questioned them about drug trafficking, beat them and searched the freighter before leaving 12 hours later in a high-speed inflatable boat.

The alleged attack, unusual in itself, raised further concerns because it was not reported until the freighter had passed through Britain’s busy shipping lanes and was heading out into the wide Atlantic. There have been fears that some of the attackers might still be aboard.

The Arctic Sea, which left from Finland on June 23, had been due to make port Aug. 4 in Algeria with its euro1.3 million ($1.8 million) haul of timber.

It has been suggested the vessel may have come under a second attack. “Radio calls were 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. But the ship’s Russian operator, Solchart Arkhangelsk, said it had no information about a second attack. 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.

On Wednesday, Russia said naval vessels authorized to use force were hunting the Arctic Sea with the aid of “space-based” detection systems. The Maltese Maritime Authority said Wednesday that the ship appeared to have headed into the Atlantic Ocean, but mystery surrounded the ship’s movements and the fate of its crew.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on its Web site that Black Sea Fleet patrol ship Ladny was heading the search operation and had passed through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev instructed Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov to “take all necessary measures to locate, monitor and, if necessary, to free the missing vessel,” a statement issued by the president’s office said.

Nato was monitoring the situation due to the unusual nature and location of the attacks, but was not directly involved in the search.

The sighting off Cape Verde, a key staging post for cocaine trafficking from Latin America, will renew speculation that the vessel could been have been hijacked by drug or arms smugglers.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, was in Cape Verde on Friday on the final leg of an 11-day tour of Africa.

Ok, so now we learn it was heard from off the coast of Portugal, and there may have been more trouble there. Aside from that, we don’t know much of anything, other than that the Russian Navy can get one of it’s ships from the Black Sea all the way across the Mediterranean to the Atlantic in just a couple of days. Speedy!

I think there will be a very interesting story here, although we might only be told “radio breakdown and rudder damage” to explain the whole thing. This smells quite fishy. 

Posted by Drew458     on 08/14/2009 at 04:18 PM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
• Comments (2) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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