Ransom Demand For Missing Ship

The Maltese-owned, Russian-crewed and Finnish-operated vessel disappeared two weeks ago while en route with a cargo of timber from Finland to Algeria. It has been the target of a major international search.

Finland's National Bureau of Investigation declined to say what the size of the ransom is, other than it is a significant sum. The affair is being jointly investigated by Finnish, Maltese and Swedish police.

According to information received by YLE, the lives of the crew have been threatened if the ransom is not paid.

The NBI believes that the ship was taken over by hijackers in July while still in the Baltic Sea. For that reason, Finnish officials have not released any information about possible contact with the vessel or when the ransom demand was received, or if rumours about the location of the ship have been accurate. Release of such information could endanger the 15-member crew.

However, the authorities do not know with certainty that the ship has been hijacked. The Finnish company that operates the vessel filed an official crime report with police in Finland who passed it on to Swedish police.

Finland's National Bureau of Investigation has a key role in the case, acting as a clearinghouse for information from officials in over 20 countries involved in the investigation.

Viktor Matvejev, the CEO of Solchart Management which operates the Arctic Sea on Saturday declined to comment on the information released by the NBI.

The disappearance of the Arctic Sea, which dropped off the radar in the English Channel on July 28, has sparked intense speculation about its fate, with experts debating whether pirates, a mafia quarrel or a commercial dispute were involved.

The ship had been due to arrive in Algeria on August 4 with a cargo of sawn timber loaded at Pietarsaari, Finland.

A European Union spokesman said Friday that the ship appeared to have been attacked twice but not in "traditional" acts of piracy, and Russian warships have been scouring the Atlantic Ocean for the vessel.

Swedish police say the ship was hijacked in the Baltic Sea on July 24, when masked men claiming to be anti-drugs police boarded the ship, tied up the crew and searched the vessel. But the men reportedly left after about 12 hours.