MOSCOW, August 20 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian crew of a cargo ship that had been missing in the Atlantic for more than two weeks before being found on Monday are being flown to Moscow, a Russian military official said on Thursday.

The Finnish-owned Arctic Sea was found by a Russian warship off Cape Verde with 15 crewmembers and eight suspected hijackers on board. The vessel was freed without a single shot fired.

"Air Force planes with the Arctic Sea crew and the hijackers on board are on their way to Moscow. They are due to arrive during the morning," the official said.

He said an investigation into the suspected hijacking would resume in Russia.

The crew were transferred on Wednesday from the Russian Navy frigate to one of the Cape Verde islands, from where they flew to Moscow.

The Maltese-flagged cargo ship left Finland with a cargo of timber on July 22 en route for Algeria. The ship last made radio contact with British coastguards on July 28.