ASTRAKHAN, Russia, (Reuters) – The Russian navy found a missing cargo ship yesterday in the Atlantic Ocean near the Cape Verde islands, raising the prospect of solving a mystery that has baffled maritime authorities for weeks.
The Arctic Sea and its 15-man Russian crew went missing in European waters two weeks ago, sparking speculation of foul play or even a secret cargo targeted by pirates or spies.
Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov told President Dmitry Medvedev that the 4,000-tonne ship had been found off Cape Verde, and that the crew were safe and had been taken aboard a navy anti-submarine ship.
He gave no details of how the vessel had been found or why it had disappeared, but promised to say more later.
“Today at 1 a.m. Moscow time, the ship was found 300 miles off the Cape Verde islands,” Serdyukov told Medvedev during a presidential visit to the southern Russian city of Astrakhan.
