12/08/2009

English Channel Ship 'Under Pirate Control'

A missing cargo ship may have travelled through the English Channel after being hijacked by pirates, it has been revealed.

The Arctic Sea, which has 15 Russian crew members, had made contact with British Coastguards before it entered the Straits of Dover on July 28.

The 3,988-tonne ship, which was carrying around £1 million worth of sawn timber from Finland to Algeria, was supposed to arrive in Bejaia in northern Algeria on August 4 at 11pm, but has not been seen.

The day before, Dover Coastguard had been contacted by Interpol saying that the ship had been hijacked in the Baltic Sea. It is feared that the ship may have been hijacked four days before it reached the Straits of Dover.

The Russian Navy is now reported to be searching for the missing ship, which was last recorded off the coast of Brest, northern France on July 30.

(KMcA/BMcC)


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