Arctic Sea crew returned home

03.11.2009
Shipmaster, chief engineer, second engineer and boatswain have been staying at MV Arctic Sea for over two months after release from pirate captivity Monday evening arrived to Arkhangelsk via Moscow.

According to the vessel's shipmaster Sergei Zaretsky, all sailors feel well.

The cargo ship escorted by Black Sea Fleet vessels sailed in Malta region on Oct 29. Inspection revealed no illegal cargo aboard and the ship was transferred to Finnish shipowning company OY Solchart Management AB out of Maltese territorial waters. The ship control has been performed by shift crew since Oct 30. Black Sea Fleet's corvette Ladny and tanker Iman headed for home ports.

Fast inflatable boat with 8 citizens of Estonia, Latvia and Russia approached cargo ship Arctic Sea sailing from Finland to Algeria with cargo of wood and 15-men Russian crew aboard on July 24 at 11.00 pm Moscow time in Baltic Sea. Invoking aid due to boat problems, captors got aboard and threatening with arms demanded full obedience.

Then Arctic Sea headed for African coast with disabled navigational equipment. On Aug 17 the ship was released by RNS Ladny 300 miles off Cabo Verde. 8 hijackers and 11 crewmembers were delivered to Moscow. Later on, the released sailors returned home to Arkhangelsk. 4 crewmembers including shipmaster, boatswain and engineer stayed on board Arctic Sea. The vessel could not call at Maltese port for a time due to judicial protractions.

On the basis of incident Russian Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case according to part 3 clause 126 (kidnapping) and part 3 clause 227 (piracy) of RF Criminal Code. The investigations are still in progress.

Source: RusNavy.com, photo: Arctic Sea