Russia holds eight after recovering missing ship Arctic Sea

Source: Guardian

Russia has detained eight people believed to be behind the hijacking of the Arctic Sea, a cargo ship which mysteriously vanished for three weeks before being found off the Cape Verde islands, the country's defence minister said today.

The Arctic Sea had been hijacked by a group of Estonians, Latvians and Russians, and was liberated by the Russian navy without a single shot being fired, the Itar-Tass news agency quoted Anatoly Serdyukov as saying.

Serdyukov had told the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, yesterday that the 15-strong Russian crew had been found safe on the ship. They were not under armed control, and were now helping to "clarify" the incident.

Despite the ship's recovery, the incident has raised many questions in a saga which has inspired frenzied rumours of piracy, ransom demands, secret cargoes and arms smuggling.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/18/arctic-sea-mystery-eight-held

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This time they really have found it, and boarded it - it's not just 'a sighting'.