Location of "hijacked" Arctic Sea freighter a mystery

Due in Algeria Thursday, ship probably not yet passed Gibraltar

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As if to compound the mysteries and conundrums surrounding her, the Arctic Sea, a cargo vessel believed to have been hijacked by unknown pirates off the Baltic coast of Sweden two weeks ago, has not shown up at her destination.
      The Maltese-registered ship, which is Latvian-owned but time-chartered to a Finnish company, was expected in the Algerian port of Bejaïa on Thursday.
      Spanish Maritime officials say that the ship has probably not yet passed through the Strait of Gibraltar.
     
“This ship is of interest to very many people. When it appears in our monitoring equipment, the coastguard will immediately report on it to the Spanish police”, said a maritime official reached by telephone from Madrid on Thursday evening.
      The official remained anonymous, because officials in Spain are normally allowed to give comments to the media only in writing.
      The coastguard station at Tarifa, which constantly monitors maritime traffic in the narrow Strait of Gibraltar, has not received notification from the captain of the Arctic Sea, and the ship has not shown up on its radar, or in the Automatic Identification System (AIS).
      It is possible the AIS system has been switched off or is malfunctioning, or that the vessel is sailing off the coast and out of range of the system.
      The area in question is under special scrutiny, because it is heavily used by migrants seeking to enter Europe illegally.
     
“There are no indications that it would have passed Gibraltar. It would be very strange if the ship would have managed to slip through unnoticed”, the official in Madrid said.
      If a ship does not identify itself voluntarily when it passes through the strait, officials will approach the vessel to ask where it is going.
     
The list of arrivals at the Port of Bejaïa in Algeria included a notation of the scheduled arrival of the Arctic Sea. The vessel was listed as having a load of lumber on board.
      “We have no information about the ship, and we would have no reason not to report its arrival in Bejaïa”, harbour officials said early on Thursday evening.
      The most recent sighting of the vessel was in the English Channel a week ago.
      On Thursday Helsingin Sanomat was unable to contact the ship's agents in Bejaïa.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Press report: Swedish police see ship hijacking as “mistake” (3.8.2009)
  Freight vessel of Finnish shipping line targeted by mystery pirates in Swedish waters (31.7.2009)
  Swedish police silent on ship hijacking investigation (4.8.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat