Missing ship briefly on radar, tracked to Bay of Biscay
August 15th, 2009 - 8:01 pm ICT by IANSMoscow, Aug 15 (RIA Novosti) A tracking device aboard a cargo ship, missing since late July, was briefly reactivated Saturday, showing the vessel’s location in the Bay of Biscay, a Russian maritime journal said.
Sovfrakht said the cargo ship was in the Atlantic near France’s La Rochelle port, citing data from the tracking device at 08:30 GMT. Later the signal suddenly disappeared.
The Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea, carrying timber with 15 Russian sailors on board, set off from Finland July 23 and was due to arrive at the Algerian port of Bejaia Aug 4.
The ship last made radio contact with British coastguards July 28.
According to Interpol, masked men claiming to be police briefly seized the ship in the Swedish waters of the Baltic Sea July 24. Reports said after 12 hours the men left the ship and the Arctic Sea resumed its voyage.
Some reports speculated that the ship could have been targeted because it was carrying “unknown cargo” in addition to timber. The ship’s operator has termed the reports “rubbish”.
The Russian Navy launched the search for the Arctic Sea Wednesday. The frigate Ladny was heading toward Cape Verde in the western Atlantic Friday, according to the Russian ambassador in the former Portuguese colony.
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