Double Hijack of "Arctic Sea" (ongoing)

[Carsten Wiethoff]

There has been a very strange thing happening to the ship Arctic Sea.
See the ongoing thread at http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/showthread.php?t=28305

Some Quotes:

A Finnish-owned cargo ship sailing under a Maltese flag was briefly hijacked off Sweden between Gotland and Öland last week, the Swedish police said in a statement Thursday, adding the hijackers had posed as police.

According to the Swedish authorities up to ten hijackers had boarded MV Arctic Sea, tied up the 15-strong Russian crew and left the ship after searching for something on board for about 12 hours.

It simply does not make sense.
A 98-metre-long cargo ship, the M/S Arctic Sea, is reported to have been hijacked off the coast of Sweden, after which it is sighted again in the English Channel, and then it disappears without a trace.
Nevertheless, this is what has happened, in the age of satellites and radar systems, and in the waters of the European Union.

Maritime officials of the European Union believe that the missing cargo ship, the Arctic Sea, may have been hijacked twice. An anonymous official source told the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph that in addition to being hijacked off the coast of Sweden, the vessel was also seized off Portugal at the end of July.

The official said that the ship had reported an attack by “pirates” in Portuguese waters.

The source would not reveal further details because of the ongoing investigation.

Previously, the British Coastguard has said that the hijackers were probably on board when the ship passed through the English Channel. The Coastguard said that it had received a message from the ship which seemed suspicious.

Viktor Matvejev, the director of the shipping line that operates the Arctic Sea, told Reuters News Agency on Thursday that he believes that the hijackers are still on board.

Here is one for the conspiracy lovers. All the posts on the Daily Mail forum thread regarding this story have been deleted Now that forum is well moderated so its not due dubious comments. Why delete the entire thread?

I am not paranoid. No. But my first idea after reading the first headline was "black op".

Carsten

[Carsten Wiethoff]

Just to be on record with that: My second idea was "Iran".
No specific reason, just gut feeling.

[Peter Lemkin]

There has been a very strange thing happening to the ship Arctic Sea.
See the ongoing thread at http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/showthread.php?t=28305

Some Quotes:

A Finnish-owned cargo ship sailing under a Maltese flag was briefly hijacked off Sweden between Gotland and Öland last week, the Swedish police said in a statement Thursday, adding the hijackers had posed as police.

According to the Swedish authorities up to ten hijackers had boarded MV Arctic Sea, tied up the 15-strong Russian crew and left the ship after searching for something on board for about 12 hours.

It simply does not make sense.
A 98-metre-long cargo ship, the M/S Arctic Sea, is reported to have been hijacked off the coast of Sweden, after which it is sighted again in the English Channel, and then it disappears without a trace.
Nevertheless, this is what has happened, in the age of satellites and radar systems, and in the waters of the European Union.

Maritime officials of the European Union believe that the missing cargo ship, the Arctic Sea, may have been hijacked twice. An anonymous official source told the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph that in addition to being hijacked off the coast of Sweden, the vessel was also seized off Portugal at the end of July.

The official said that the ship had reported an attack by “pirates” in Portuguese waters.

The source would not reveal further details because of the ongoing investigation.

Previously, the British Coastguard has said that the hijackers were probably on board when the ship passed through the English Channel. The Coastguard said that it had received a message from the ship which seemed suspicious.

Viktor Matvejev, the director of the shipping line that operates the Arctic Sea, told Reuters News Agency on Thursday that he believes that the hijackers are still on board.

Here is one for the conspiracy lovers. All the posts on the Daily Mail forum thread regarding this story have been deleted Now that forum is well moderated so its not due dubious comments. Why delete the entire thread?

I am not paranoid. No. But my first idea after reading the first headline was "black op".

Carsten

Would LOVE to know what is on that ship - or what these fake pirates thought was on it!......bet it isn't choclolate bars.

[Magda Hassan]

I'd love to know who owns what is on that boat/who owns that boat company and who they have been doing business with and who they haven't and why.

[Peter Lemkin]

I'd love to know who owns what is on that boat/who owns that boat company and who they have been doing business with and who they haven't and why.

Like the US bonds the 'Japanese' tried to take to Switzerland to sell...this will disappear into the realm of the Cheshire Cat and not ever be resolved. The real proof of a Secret Govt. Black Op. Which secret govt. we may not even know....

The 'official' and MSM verions are that the ship only has 1.5 million in lumber.....I'd bet my life there is more than just wood on that ship or was to be on that ship!

[Carsten Wiethoff]

Peter,

re: Bonds

Look at the update on the corresponding thread in this forum. Tell me what you think of the "Kennedy Bonds" on sale there...

Carsten

[Peter Lemkin]

The ship has been boarded again [second or third time] and the 'pirates' are demanding a big ransom or "else"......stay tuned. Strangely the Russians can't seem to locate it..despite all their satellites et al.

(CNN) -- A ransom has been demanded for a missing Russian cargo ship which vanished two weeks ago after being involved in a suspected hijacking off the coast of Sweden last month, Finnish police told CNN Saturday.

The last known contact with the Arctic Sea was July 31. Mystery surrounds its movements and the fate of its crew.

Authorities said the ransom demand might be from a second group of hijackers who targeted the ship after it was first allegedly hijacked for 12 hours off the coast of Sweden.

"There has been a demand for ransom and the subject is the shipping company, Solchart Management," Jan Olof Nyholm with the Finnish police told CNN.

An international criminal investigation is under way into the alleged hijacking of the vessel, the Arctic Sea. The last known communication with the vessel was July 31.

The probe, involving Interpol, is being handled by Swedish, Maltese and Finnish authorities in cooperation with authorities from another 20 countries, the Malta Maritime Authority said in a statement Saturday.

Finnish police would not say how much ransom had been demanded, or what else they know about the vessel.

"At this point I can't comment on whether we know the whereabouts of the ship. Our top priority is the threat to life and health, so I can't release any more details," Nyholm said. "The investigation has more details, but I can't say any more."

The Arctic Sea, which sails under a Maltese flag, was carrying a 6,500-ton cargo of timber from Finland to Algeria when it reported trouble on July 24.

Its 15-member crew told authorities that eight to 12 people armed with guns and pistols boarded the vessel about 3 a.m. that day, masked and wearing uniforms with the word "police" written on them, the Malta Maritime Authority said.

"During (the attackers') stay onboard, the members of the crew were allegedly assaulted, tied, gagged, and blindfolded and some of them were seriously injured," the maritime authority said in a written statement.

"All crew members were 'hard' questioned for a considerable amount of time. The questioning was related to drug trafficking. Later all crew members were released from their bindings but were locked within cabins until the alleged police rummaged the vessel thoroughly."

The attackers left after 12 hours on the same black rubber boat on which they had arrived, which bore the word "police," the maritime authority said.

The vessel's radar and satellite systems were off-line for two hours during the reported hijacking, during which it was witnessed performing "extreme maneuvers," said Maria Lonegard, a spokeswoman for the Swedish police.

The Finnish shipping company in charge of the ship reported the case to the Finnish police, who referred it to the Swedish police, the Maltese Maritime Authority said. In the meantime, the ship sailed through the English Channel.

Three days later, on July 31, Swedish police reached the ship by phone and spoke with someone they believed to be the captain, Lonegard said.

The crew provided photos of their injuries and written statements about the alleged hijacking, Swedish police said.

Despite that evidence, however, authorities have been unable to confirm the alleged hijacking. Swedish police say they have spoken to a number of witnesses who saw the ship making strange movements, but no one saw the black rubber boat approaching or leaving the Arctic Sea.

The ship has not been heard from since July 31. It did not arrive in North Africa as scheduled August 4.

Authorities have had no explanation for the ship's disappearance until Saturday, when Swedish police said they believe the Arctic Sea has been hijacked a second time. Track reports of the ship's journey »

"It appears that we are now dealing with two separate incidents -- the alleged hijacking off the Swedish coast and now the alleged hijacking with a demand for ransom," Lonegard told CNN on Saturday.
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"The incident in the Swedish waters appeared over when we spoke to the crew and shipping company on the 31st of July. So it appears the ship has been hijacked twice."

Police don't know the location of those demanding the ransom, she said.

An international criminal investigation is under way into the alleged hijacking, led by the Swedish, Maltese and Finnish authorities in cooperation with authorities from another 20 countries, the Malta Maritime Authority said in a statement Saturday.

Interpol and Europol are also involved.

The ship was reported Friday to be in international waters north of Cape Verde, an island nation a few hundred miles from the coast of western Africa.

The news came from Portugal's state news agency, which quoted Cape Verde's defense director, Pedro Reis.

The U.S. military also had a report this week that the ship was seen a few hundred miles from Cape Verde, two military sources told CNN, but the United States had no independent verification of those reports. The U.S. military is not involved in the search.

Russia's ambassador to Cape Verde, however, denied that the Arctic Sea had been spotted near the island.

The Russian military has been searching for days for the Arctic Sea, with naval vessels authorized to use force, Russia said this week.

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.

Experts say maritime crime is rare in heavily policed European waters and more common around areas, such as Somalia, where governments have little or no control over their ports.

"Attacks on ships are extremely rare; basically they don't happen," said Jeremy Harrison of the British Chamber of Shipping.



A spokesman for the Swedish Coast Guard said the last known hijacking of a vessel in Swedish waters occurred in the 16th century.
"The only way a ship can disappear is if someone has actually turned off the ship's beacon," said Natasha Brown with the United Nations' International Maritime Organization. "But if this is done, you could only find the ship if you actively searched for it with a plane or helicopter."

[Magda Hassan]

Missing cargo ship 'found' off Cape Verde

Russian warships are closing in on the missing cargo ship the Arctic Sea after it was spotted off the Cape Verde islands in west Africa by coastguards.



By Bruno Waterfield
Published: 8:59PM BST 14 Aug 2009

The Arctic Sea, a Maltese-flagged cargo ship, was supposed to make port in Algeria with its cargo of timber on August 4 Photo: AP


Cape Verde coastguards reported that the Russian owned and crewed merchant vessel, which is thought to have been hijacked, has been seen cruising over 460 miles from archipelago, which lies 280 miles off the coast of Senegal.
"The Arctic Sea is some 400 nautical miles off one of the islands of Cape Verde, therefore outside its territorial waters," said an official, without specifying the vessel's precise location.

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The Cape Verde authorities have hinted that the sighting may have followed an ongoing surveillance operation of the Maltese-flagged vessel by Nato or other international security agencies.
"The Cape Verde coastguard is in contact with international agencies and organisations that are continually informing it of the movement and progress of the ship," said the official.
Later, the French defence ministry confirmed the sighting, saying the ship had been "found", and was last seen about 520 miles off the islands.
Russian diplomatic sources said that at least one frigate was headed to the West African islands on Friday night in pursuit.
The sighting of the ship, the first since Aug 1, comes three weeks after its Russian crew of 15 reported a first boarding of the vessel in Swedish waters by 12 armed, English-speaking, men disguised as police officers.
According to European Union officials a second attack was reported a week later off the Portuguese coast, possibly by intruders who had remained as stowaways after the first attack.
The Russian state news agency Itar-Tass has reported that the original tip-off giving the Arctic Sea's location came from Russia's old Cold War rival Nato, with the French armed forces playing a key role.
Cmdr Chris Davies, the spokesman at Nato's British maritime headquarters, acknowledged that the Western military alliance had been monitoring the situation since the first reports of a possible hijacking.
Five Russian naval vessels, including frigates and nuclear submarines, are in the region after being scrambled on Wednesday in an international maritime hunt for the 4000 ton ship.
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.
At a joint press conference with Jose Maria Pereira Neves, Cape Verde's prime minister, Mrs Clinton praised the former Portuguese colony as representing "a new and emerging Africa".
The Arctic Sea left the Finnish port of Pietarsaari on July 23 en route to the Algerian port of Bejaia with an official cargo manifest of sawn timber.
The ship has food supplies for a 45-day voyage and enough fuel for 40 days of cruising.
The freighter's Helsinki-based management company said it was "unaware of any report that the ship has been located".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...Verde.html

[Carsten Wiethoff]

The word of today (actually yesterday) must be „stupid“.
Jukka Laaksonen, head of the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, had a bad day yesterday.

Missing cargo ship was tested for radiation: official[/FONT]
The missing cargo ship the Arctic Sea was checked for radioactive material before it left port in Finland, but tests turned out negative, the Finnish nuclear agency said Sunday. [/FONT]
Jukka Laaksonen, the head of the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, said "stupid" firefighters decided to conduct tests on the ship at the port of Pietarsaari even though there was no reason to believe it contained radioactive material. [/FONT]
"Some fireman for some reason thought that there might be some radioactivity involved in this shipment and that was a very stupid idea. There was no basis for that," Laaksonen told AFP. [/FONT]
British and Finnish newspapers reported Sunday that the ship could be carrying a "secret" and radioactive cargo that could explain why the ship was attacked on the Baltic Sea and then vanished before being spotted off Cape Verde. [/FONT]
"It's just a stupid rumour," Laaksonen said. [/FONT]
"Some stupid firemen who don't know anything about radiation got such an idea. And then they checked and of course got nothing," he said. [/FONT]
Finnish police said Saturday that a ransom demand was made for the Maltese-flagged ship, which is operated by Helsinki-based Solchart Management and has a crew of 15 Russian sailors. [/FONT]
The demand raised hopes for the fate of the ship, which left Finland on July 23 bound for the Algerian port of Bejaia, carrying a cargo of 1.16 million euros (1.7 million dollars) worth of sawn timber. [/FONT]

I cannot agree more. It is really stupid, that stupid firemen got themselves filmed checking out a stupid rumour, thereby practically admitting foreknowledge.
So people, forget about drugs, this is the real deal. Any bets, where the material came from (Russia, US, Israel) and where it will end (Iran, Iraq (some WMD, finally found!), North Korea, Pakistan…)?

[Carsten Wiethoff]

Events race. The ship has been found by the Russians today:

Agence France-Presse - 8/17/2009 4:56 PM GMT
Russia finds Arctic Sea ship, 'debriefing' crew




A cargo ship whose mysterious disappearance sparked a massive hunt has been found and its crew transferred to a Russian naval vessel, Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Monday.
The Arctic Sea was located around 2100 GMT Sunday about 300 miles (483 kilometres) from the Cape Verde archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, Serdyukov said, after intensive search efforts in the past 10 days which saw rare coordination between Russia and NATO.
"The crew has been transferred aboard our anti-submarine ship," Serdyukov told President Dmitry Medvedev in a meeting that was broadcast on Russian state television.
He said all members of the Russian crew were "alive, healthy and are not under armed guard."
Serdyukov made no mention however of the current whereabouts of the Arctic Sea itself and his announcement did little to clear up the mystery over what happened in recent weeks to the Maltese-flagged, Russian cargo ship which was feared to have been hijacked.
"Debriefing is under way to clarify all aspects of the disappearance and loss of signal from this vessel," Serdyukov said.
"In the coming hours we will explain what happened with it, why communications with it were lost, why it changed its itinerary."
Medvedev called for a full investigation of the Arctic Sea mystery and vowed that "all interested parties" would be informed on the results.
The crew of the Arctic Sea was taken aboard the Russian submarine hunter Ladny, Serdyukov said. He offered no immediate further details on the operation that resulted in the crew being taken aboard the Russian warship.
The 3,988-tonne Russian-owned cargo vessel set sail from Finland on July 23 on its way to Algeria with a crew of 15 and a cargo of sawn timber estimated to be worth 1.16 million euros.
All contact with the ship however was lost shortly thereafter amid reports of multiple pirate hijackings, a zig-zagging itinerary and speculation that the vessel was carrying a secret, illicit cargo.
Finnish authorities on Sunday dismissed talk that the Arctic Sea was bearing a cargo of nuclear material.
Jukka Laaksonen, head of the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, said firefighters conducted radiation tests on the ship at a port in Finland before it began its voyage.
Reports surfaced last week that the ship had been sighted off Cape Verde and that a Portuguese aircraft had overflown the vessel.
But Portuguese did not confirm the sighting and the Russian ambassador to Cape Verde said he had not been officially informed of the ship's whereabouts.
At the weekend it emerged that Russia and NATO were coordinating efforts and sharing information in the search for the vessel in a sign of a warming of their chilly relations.
Russia's envoy to NATO said that information was being sent to Moscow from the alliance's Brussels headquarters.
Meanwhile authorities in Malta refused to comment on Monday after the announcement from Moscow.
Maltese officials said Sunday that a criminal investigation was under way into the alleged extortion and hijacking of the Russian cargo ship.
The probe was opened due to "the general characteristics of the aggravated extortion and the related significant threats to life and health" in connection with the ship, but did not elaborate, said a Maltese maritime spokesman.