The missing Russian-crewed ship “Arctic Sea” has been found near the Cape Verde Islands. This is according to French Defense Ministry.
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According to Jerome Baroe, the ministry spokesperson, the Cape Verde coastguard has confirmed that the vessel was discovered about 520 miles off the coast.
The report is being echoed by the Russian ITAR-TASS news agency, with the information allegedly coming from NATO.
ITAR-TASS also quoted a representative of Cape Verde’s defense ministry as saying the authorities of the island state are co-operating with all the interested parties.
“I will neither confirm nor deny the reports about the ship’s presence off our coast. The information will be provided to the international media when the situation calls for it,” the representative stated.
According to Russia’s ambassador to Cape Verde, Aleksandr Karpushin, a Russian frigate is now heading to the area.
The diplomat was quoted by the Russian news service.
"I have a report from the Russian Navy that the frigate is going to enter Cape Verde territorial waters," said Alexander Karpushin. "The warship has its own search plan."
Meanwhile, according to France-Press agency, before the French have informed Russia about several other possible locations of the missing ship.
"Since yesterday we have spotted a number of vessels in the Atlantic Ocean which could turn out to be the Arctic sea," Captain Jerome Baroe told the agency. He also noted that the information has to be checked as “the ships resemble each other and can be easily repainted”.
According to the Financial Times Deutschland, the ship was seized by sea pirates.
The paper says the hijackers asked for $1.5 million ransom.
Earlier it was reported that Interpol also thinks pirates are behind the loss of the vessel, however the Russian Central Interpol Bureau could not confirm the information.
Some media have speculated the ship could have been targeted because it was carrying an "unknown cargo" in addition to timber – claims which have been denied by the operator of the Arctic sea.
The ship “Arctic Sea” has been missing since August 1. However, even earlier, on July 24, the crew reported men in masks boarding the ship, tying the crew up, searching for cargo and then leaving the ship.
The Swedish newspaper, Metro, said that the masked men spoke English and were very well equipped, suggesting that they could have been US special forces. They further reported, however, that the attackers spoke English with an accent.
Meanwhile, there has been much speculation over what has actually happened to the “Arctic Sea”. The European Commission suggested that the ship has been attacked twice – once in the Baltic Sea on July 24, and another time – off the coast of Portugal where it disappeared.
Others speculated that the ship carried precious cargo that was the target of hijackers, rather than timber as was originally reported.
