An international search was under way Wednesday for a cargo ship that vanished after its crew reported they were hijacked — at least briefly — nearly two weeks ago.
The last known contact with the Arctic Sea was July 31. Mystery surrounds its movements and the fate of its crew.
The Russian-crewed Arctic Sea, carrying a 6,500-ton cargo of timber from Finland to Algeria, was last heard from on July 31, when crew members spoke to Swedish police.
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A spokesman for the Swedish Coast Guard said the last known hijacking of a vessel in Swedish waters occurred in the 16th century.
“The only way a ship can disappear is if someone has actually turned off the ship’s beacon,” said Natasha Brown with the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization. “But if this is done, you could only find the ship if you actively searched for it with a plane or helicopter.”
“The whole thing is more than strange, this is a first time in the history of our business,” Matveev said.
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