Mystery deepens over disappearing merchant ship
The mystery surrounding a missing merchant ship deepened Thursday with the vessel’s operator suggesting piracy and maritime experts suspecting foul play or even a secret cargo. The Kremlin ordered Russian warships to join the hunt for the 4,000-tonne, 98-meter bulk carrier Arctic Sea, whose fate has baffled maritime authorities across Europe and North Africa.The Maltese-registered vessel, carrying a $1.3-million cargo of timber, was supposed to have docked on August 4 in the Algerian port of Bejaia. It never arrived and is thought to have last made contact from the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of France.
Mikhail Boytenko, editor of Russia’s respected Sovfracht maritime journal, said that the ship may have been carrying a secret cargo unknown to the vessel’s owners or operators.
