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Russian crew ship 'disappears'

Started by Barry McCrindle , Aug 09 2009 06:02 PM

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#31 Barry McCrindle

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Posted 25 August 2009 - 09:38 PM

From the BBc news site

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Russia's top investigator has said a cargo ship which went missing for more than two weeks may have been carrying a more sensitive cargo than first stated.
Alexander Bastrykin's comments to Interfax news agency are the first official suggestions that the Arctic Sea was carrying more than timber.
The vessel was eventually found on 16 August off West Africa, having apparently being hijacked.
There has been much speculation it may have been carrying weapons for export.
Eight people, mainly from Estonia, are still in custody in Russia on suspicion of hijacking the vessel.

We need to examine the vessel - so that there are no dark spots in this story
Alexander Bastrykin
Investigative Committee chief

Arctic Sea mystery deepens
The 4,000-tonne Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea set sail with a crew of 15 from Finland in July and was said to have been carrying timber worth $1.8m (£1.1m).
"We do not rule out the possibility that [the Arctic Sea] might have been carrying not only timber," Mr Bastrykin, the head of the investigative committee, was quoted as saying by Interfax on Tuesday.
"This is why we need to examine the vessel - so that there are no dark spots in this story."
The ship had been scheduled to dock in the Algerian port of Bejaia on 4 August, but never arrived.
It was eventually found by the Russian authorities 300 miles (480km) off Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Russian crew have said they were boarded by up to 10 armed men as the ship sailed through the Baltic Sea on 24 July, but the intruders were reported to have left the vessel on an inflatable boat after 12 hours.
Speculation in the Russian media about what happened to the ship has included suggestions of piracy, a mafia dispute, a commercial row, smuggling or trafficking.
Those detained on suspicion of hijack have said they are environmentalists who boarded the ship for safety during a storm.

I always see both sides of the argument, the one that's wrong and mine.....

#32 Guest_Steve Ellwood_*

Guests

Posted 03 September 2009 - 07:17 AM

An Israel take on this story - courtesy of http://www.haaretz.c...es/1112038.html

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Finland asks Putin to explain nabbed ship incident
By Dan Tamir and Yossi Melman

The Russian cargo ship that disappeared on its way from Finland to Algeria came up in talks between Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who met yesterday in the Polish city of Gdansk to discuss energy and the environment, according to the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.

Finland had officially requested information from Russia on the affair, in which the "Arctic Sea" disappeared for a month on its way to deliver timber to Algeria, the paper said.

"We discussed what possible motives there may have been for the hijacking," Vanhanen was quoted as saying.

The "Arctic Sea" set sail from Finland on July 22, flying a Maltese flag, and was manned by a Russian crew, carrying $2 million of timber that belonged to a Finnish company. On July 24, eight interlopers from Russia and neighboring countries boarded the ship; the ship's tracking device was disconnected. On August 12, the Russian Navy began to look for the ship and said it had found the vessel a week later.

But why bother with a ship with such a small cargo? Why was no distress signal sent out? Why did it take the Russian Navy more than two weeks to begin a search? Is there a connection between the apparent piracy and President Shimon Peres' sudden visit to Russia the day after the ship was found?

In an interview with Time Magazine, the former chief of staff of the Estonian Army, Admiral Tarmo Kouts, said he believed the ship was carrying Russian weapons to the Middle East, and that the Israelis intercepted it. Other Russian political commentators put forward the same theory. Pundit Yulya Latynina told Time she believed Israel had intercepted the cargo, which was intended for Syria or Iran. The theory was denied by the Russian ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin.

A spokeswoman for the President's Residence declined to respond to Time's questions about a possible connection between the affair and Peres' meeting with Putin.

Was Israel possibly involved in the kidnapping? Theoretically, possible. The Naval Commado has taken control of ships - the Karin A, which was transporting weapons from Iran to the Palestinian Authority. But it is highly unlikely that a prime minister in Israel would dare order the abduction of a Russian ship, even if it were carrying anti-aircraft missiles to Iran or Syra. And why kidnap a ship whose cargo was dangerous to Israel's security? It would be better in that case to sink it, leaving no trace.

Speculation grew yesterday that the Russians staged the kidnapping to avoid the embarrassment of the revelation that the ship was carrying missiles. This seems reasonable, though impossible to verify. And why stage a kidnapping in a busy shipping lane in the Baltic Sea and then leave the ship sailing for two weeks?

When asked directly about the affair, Defense Minister Ehud Barak declined to comment.

#33 Guest_Steve Ellwood_*

Guests

Posted 03 September 2009 - 12:49 PM

This story is running on the BBC News web site @ http://news.bbc.co.u...ope/8235647.stm

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Russia ship mystery editor flees

A journalist has fled Russia after suggesting the Arctic Sea cargo ship that was apparently hijacked in July may have been carrying illegal weapons.

Mikhail Voitenko said he had been told to leave Moscow or face arrest.

The editor of Sovfracht, an online maritime journal, fled on Wednesday, saying he may not be able to return as his life would be in danger.

Eight men, mainly from Estonia, have been charged with hijacking and piracy over the case.

The men are suspected of seizing the ship and its 15-man Russian crew after raiding it disguised as police.

The alleged hijackers were taken to Russia after the ship was spotted 300 miles (480km) off the west coast of Africa on 16 August.

Secret shipment

Mr Voitenko - who was among the first to cast doubt on official explanations about the ship's disappearance - told the BBC it was nonsense to suggest pirates had been involved.

Instead he suggested the ship may have been carrying a secret shipment of weapons as part of a private business deal by state officials.

Speaking to the BBC from Turkey, Mr Voitenko said he had received a threatening phone call from "serious people" whom he suggested may have been members of Russia's intelligence agency, the FSB.

The caller told Mr Voitenko that those involved in the mysterious case of the Arctic Sea were very angry with him because he had spoken publicly, and were planning on taking action against him, he said.

"As long as I am out of Russia I feel safe," Mr Voitenko told the BBC. "At least they won't be able to get me back to Russia and convict [me]."

He also said Nato knew exactly what had happened to the Arctic Sea.

A Nato spokesman said the alliance had been in contact with Russia throughout the crisis, but would not say anything more.

The FSB refused to comment on the allegations.

Further inspection

Mystery continues to surround the ship's disappearance, amid speculation the ship may have been intercepted by Mossad - Israel's foreign intelligence service - in order to prevent a shipment of illegal arms to the Middle East.

The 4,000-tonne Maltese-flagged vessel vanished in July days after leaving Finland with an apparent cargo of timber worth $1.8m (£1.1m), destined for the Algerian port of Bejaia.

Observers have questioned why the alleged hijackers would risk seizing the Arctic Sea in one of Europe's busiest shipping lanes for a relatively inexpensive cargo.

Russian authorities said nothing suspicious was found aboard the ship when it was found last month, but have said a more thorough inspection would be carried out when the Arctic Sea arrives in the Russian port of Novorossiisk.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.u...ope/8235647.stm

Published: 2009/09/03 11:35:19 GMT

© BBC MMIX

#34 Guest_Steve Ellwood_*

Guests

Posted 08 May 2010 - 12:02 PM

Bit of a follow up to this 'tale' - this piece from The New York Times @

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Russia: Sentence in Ship Hijacking

By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ

Published: May 7, 2010

A Moscow court gave a five-year sentence on Friday to one of the men charged with hijacking a cargo ship off the coast of Sweden last summer, the court said in a statement, the first verdict in a rare case of European piracy. Andrei Lunev, 44, an Estonian citizen, pleaded guilty to charges that he and eight other men commandeered the ship, the Arctic Sea, along with its Russian crew and ferried it through heavily monitored European waters out into the Atlantic Ocean. The Russian Navy retook the ship and arrested the hijackers last August. The navy’s involvement in an operation to track down a ship that was officially only carrying cheap timber fueled rumors that the vessel was being used to smuggle illicit cargo. Russian investigators said they found only timber on board.

Evidently the Arctic Sea was recently sold to a new owner.