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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Hunt on for 'hijacked cargo ship' | Hunt on for 'hijacked cargo ship' |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A search is under way for a cargo ship which may have travelled through the English Channel after apparently being hijacked by pirates. | A search is under way for a cargo ship which may have travelled through the English Channel after apparently being hijacked by pirates. |
| Coastguards fear the Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea, carrying up to 15 Russian crew, was hijacked in the Baltic sea. | |
| UK authorities made contact with it as it entered the Strait of Dover. The Russian navy told the Itar-Tass agency five warships were hunting the vessel. | |
| The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the situation was "bizarre". | The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the situation was "bizarre". |
| Spokesman Mark Clark said: "Who would think that a hijacked ship could pass through one of the most policed and concentrated waters in the world? | Spokesman Mark Clark said: "Who would think that a hijacked ship could pass through one of the most policed and concentrated waters in the world? |
| "It seems strange to think that a ship which had been hijacked was passing along the channel along with ships carrying day-trippers going over to Calais for the day." | "It seems strange to think that a ship which had been hijacked was passing along the channel along with ships carrying day-trippers going over to Calais for the day." |
| name="up"> class="bodl" href="#map">See the ship's route | |
| Hijackers may have been coercing the ship's crew when they made radio contact with coastguards at Dover on 28 July, the MCA fears. | Hijackers may have been coercing the ship's crew when they made radio contact with coastguards at Dover on 28 July, the MCA fears. |
| Reports say Swedish authorities were told by the Finnish shipping line operating the 3,988-tonne cargo ship that it was boarded by up to 10 armed men claiming to be anti-drugs police as it sailed through the Baltic sea on July 24. | Reports say Swedish authorities were told by the Finnish shipping line operating the 3,988-tonne cargo ship that it was boarded by up to 10 armed men claiming to be anti-drugs police as it sailed through the Baltic sea on July 24. |
| It could well be that a crew member had a gun put to his head Mark ClarkMaritime and Coastguard Agency | It could well be that a crew member had a gun put to his head Mark ClarkMaritime and Coastguard Agency |
| The intruders apparently left the vessel - which was carrying about £1m worth of sawn timber from Finland to Algeria - 12 hours later on an inflatable boat after damaging the Arctic Sea's communications equipment. | The intruders apparently left the vessel - which was carrying about £1m worth of sawn timber from Finland to Algeria - 12 hours later on an inflatable boat after damaging the Arctic Sea's communications equipment. |
| But on 3 August, Interpol told Dover Coastguard that the crew had been hijacked in the Baltic Sea and asked UK authorities to be alert as the vessel passed through the channel. | But on 3 August, Interpol told Dover Coastguard that the crew had been hijacked in the Baltic Sea and asked UK authorities to be alert as the vessel passed through the channel. |
| By then the ship had already left the Strait of Dover and was last recorded off the coast of Brest, northern France, just before 0130 BST on 30 July. | By then the ship had already left the Strait of Dover and was last recorded off the coast of Brest, northern France, just before 0130 BST on 30 July. |
| The MCA said it was told the vessel had seemingly been spotted subsequently by a Portuguese coastal patrol aircraft but its current location was unknown. | The MCA said it was told the vessel had seemingly been spotted subsequently by a Portuguese coastal patrol aircraft but its current location was unknown. |
| Mr Clark said the person on board whom coastguards had spoken to had told them the ship was due to arrive in Bejaia, northern Algeria, on 4 August at 2300 BST. | Mr Clark said the person on board whom coastguards had spoken to had told them the ship was due to arrive in Bejaia, northern Algeria, on 4 August at 2300 BST. |
| He added: "There is no coastguard I know who can remember anything like this happening. | He added: "There is no coastguard I know who can remember anything like this happening. |
| 'Nothing suspicious' | |
| "There didn't seem anything suspicious when contact was made. It could well be that a crew member had a gun put to his head by a hijacker when contact was made, but who knows? | "There didn't seem anything suspicious when contact was made. It could well be that a crew member had a gun put to his head by a hijacker when contact was made, but who knows? |
| "We are extremely curious to find out what could have happened to this vessel." | "We are extremely curious to find out what could have happened to this vessel." |
| Mark Dickinson, general secretary of seafarers' union Nautilus International, said the situation was "unbelievable" and criticised authorities for their "relaxed" view of marine hijacking, in comparison with that of aircraft. | |
| "It is alarming that, in the 21st Century, a ship can apparently be commandeered by hijackers and sail through the world's busiest waterway with no alarm being raised and no naval vessel going to intercept it," he said. | |
| World leaders have become increasingly concerned about pirates operating off the coast of Somalia. | World leaders have become increasingly concerned about pirates operating off the coast of Somalia. |
| But Nick Davis, who runs the private security firm Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions, told the BBC's Today programme that the relatively low value of the cargo suggested this was a different kind of piracy to that seen off the coast of East Africa. | But Nick Davis, who runs the private security firm Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions, told the BBC's Today programme that the relatively low value of the cargo suggested this was a different kind of piracy to that seen off the coast of East Africa. |
| Instead, he suggested, it was more likely that the apparent seizure was the result of a "commercial dispute" in which one party had decided to "take matters into their own hands". | Instead, he suggested, it was more likely that the apparent seizure was the result of a "commercial dispute" in which one party had decided to "take matters into their own hands". |
| Nuclear submarines | |
| He added: "Piracy is piracy - if someone's wanting to take that vessel, and they're not authorised, and they use a speedboat to go and get it, then it's no different to what the Somalis do. | He added: "Piracy is piracy - if someone's wanting to take that vessel, and they're not authorised, and they use a speedboat to go and get it, then it's no different to what the Somalis do. |
| "However, I don't believe they would have boarded that vessel firing weapons in the air, and threatening to kill the crew. | "However, I don't believe they would have boarded that vessel firing weapons in the air, and threatening to kill the crew. |
| "Whilst it is piracy, it's not like what we know in Somalia." | "Whilst it is piracy, it's not like what we know in Somalia." |
| Russian authorities have said they have been assessing the situation and five Navy vessels - including two nuclear submarines - have joined the search, according to Itar-Tass. | |
| Commander-in-chief Vladimir Vysotsky told the agency: "On orders from President Dmitry Medvedev, all ships and vessels of the Russian Navy in the Atlantic have been dispatched to search for the missing ship." | |
| Naval staff had no indication of the ship's location, despite reports it may be off West Africa, he added. | |
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