MOSCOW, October 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russian prosecutors confirmed on Thursday that the Arctic Sea cargo vessel, at the centre of a mysterious hijacking case in July, is currently anchored off Gibraltar.
The Finnish-owned, Maltese-flagged cargo ship manned by a Russian crew and listed as carrying lumber from Russia to Algeria, was reportedly boarded by a group of eight men on July 24. Officials later said it had disappeared in the Atlantic. It was freed off Cape Verde on August 16 by a Russian warship.
"The Arctic Sea vessel escorted by a tugboat and the Ladny patrol ship is currently anchored off Gibraltar in the Mediterranean," the Investigative Committee at the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement.
The captain and three crew members are on board.
A senior Russian military official said earlier on Thursday that the Arctic Sea had already been anchored there for more than a week, waiting for further orders.
Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said earlier this month that the vessel had been impounded by a Russian court ruling, which however should not hamper the handover of the ship to Malta.
The Russian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said on Thursday that Algeria had refused to let the Arctic Sea pass into its territorial waters.
"The cargo being carried by the Arctic Sea was destined for an Algerian customer, and we offered to tug the vessel to the Algerian port of Bejaia to hand the ship over to its owner and deliver the cargo to its recipient," Nesterenko said, adding that no reasons had been given for the refusal.
The ship has been the focus of media speculation, with some reports speculating it was carrying Russian S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran or Syria. Moscow has denied the reports.
