MOSCOW, August 15 (RIA Novosti) - The tracking device aboard the Russian-crewed Arctic Sea, missing since late July, was briefly reactivated on Saturday showing the vessel to be located in the Bay of Biscay, a Russian maritime journal said.

Sovfrakht said the cargo ship was in the Atlantic near France's La Rochelle port, citing data from the tracking device as of 12:30 Moscow time (08:30 GMT), but later added the signal had suddenly disappeared.

The Maltese-flagged freighter, carrying timber and crewed by 15 Russian sailors, set off from Finland on July 23 and was due to arrive at the Algerian port of Bejaia on August 4.

The ship last made radio contact with British coastguards on July 28. According to Interpol the ship was briefly seized in the Swedish waters of the Baltic Sea by masked men claiming to be police on July 24. Reports state that after 12 hours the men left the ship and the Arctic Sea resumed its voyage.

Some media have speculated the ship could have been targeted because it was carrying an "unknown cargo" in addition to timber. The ship operator has called the reports "rubbish."

The Russian Navy launched the search for the Arctic Sea on instructions of the country's president on Wednesday. The frigate Ladny was heading toward Cape Verde in the western Atlantic on Friday, according to the Russian ambassador in the former Portuguese colony.