Mystery deepens over disappearing Russian ship

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By Lynn Berry ASSOCIATED PRESS

MOSCOW | The disappearance of a Russian-manned cargo ship in the Atlantic more than two weeks ago spawned a variety of theories and intriguing reports Thursday as the search drew in investigators from across Europe.

Russia had naval vessels and satellites scanning the ocean for the vessel Arctic Sea - last heard from July 28 while sailing through the English Channel with a $1.8 million cargo of timber.

Since then, there has been no confirmed sighting of the Maltese-flagged freighter, which had reported being attacked four days earlier in the Baltic Sea off the Swedish island of Oland.

The crew had said that, on July 24, up to a dozen masked men had boarded, tied up the 15 crew members, questioned them about drug trafficking and beat them before leaving 12 hours later in a high-speed inflatable boat, the Malta Maritime Authority said.

The ship had been due to make port Aug. 4 in Algeria but appeared to have changed course. The maritime authority said the Arctic Sea "has not approached the Straits of Gibraltar, which indicates that the ship headed out in the Atlantic Ocean."

Speculation on what might have happened has ranged from theories that it might have been carrying secret cargo to the possibility that it fell victim to an almost unheard of case of piracy in European waters.

The Swedish daily Metro said it spoke by telephone with someone who claimed to be the Arctic Sea's captain July 31 about the reported hijacking in the Baltic.

"They were dressed in black uniforms," the newspaper quoted the man as saying. "They resembled American elite soldiers and seemed very professional. They said they were looking for cocaine, which should have been loaded in Kaliningrad. They spoke English, with some kind of accent."

The ship was repaired in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave and drug-trafficking hub, before picking up the timber cargo at a Finnish port on July 23.

Security experts were wary of attributing the disappearance to bandits, noting that though piracy is rife in waters off lawless Somalia and in other areas of the world, European waters have been free of such attacks for centuries. Also, pirates usually seek ransom.

They said terrorism appeared unlikely.

The director of the ship's Finland-based operator, Solchart, refused to speculate on what had happened.

"It's a mystery, a tragedy for all family members and the crew, and we're just praying for all of them," Viktor Matveyev said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered "all necessary measures" be taken to find the missing ship, and the Russian navy turned all of its vessels in the Atlantic - including three landing ships, a frigate and two nuclear-powered submarines - to search.