Russia finds missing cargo ship

BAKU. August 18. KAZINFORM Russia says it has found a missing cargo vessel near the Cape Verde islands and retrieved its Russian crew, BBC reported; Kazinform cites Trend News.

Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said that the 15-member crew had been taken on board a Russian navy vessel. They were in good condition, he said.

The Finnish-owned Arctic Sea went off radar after passing through the English Channel with its cargo of timber.

Speculation over the cause of its disappearance had ranged from pirates to a mafia dispute to a commercial row.

The Arctic Sea was found at 0100 Monday (2100 GMT Sunday) 300 miles (480 km) off Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean, Tass news agency quoted Mr Serdyukov as telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

"The crew have been transferred to another ship. They are being interrogated now in order to find out what happened," Mr Serdyukov said.
   
The sailors were "alive, healthy and are not under armed guard", the agency quoted him as saying; Kazinform cites Trend News.

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