Arctic Sea investigation 'over'

By Rupert Wingfield-Hayes
BBC News, Moscow

Russia says it was a simple case of hijacking

Russia says it has finished looking into the case of a cargo ship allegedly hijacked in the Baltic Sea in July.

They say they are preparing to hand the MV Arctic Sea to authorities in Malta, where it is registered.

But critics of the Russian government say the investigation has been a cover-up, and the ship was smuggling a secret cargo to a third country.

The story of what happened to the 4,000-tonne vessel is as confused and opaque as ever.

This Russian journalist is in hiding after claiming the ship had a secret cargo

Officially, the Arctic Sea vanished in July days after leaving Finland with an apparent cargo of timber destined for the Algerian port of Bejaia.

It turned up 300 miles (480km) off West Africa in mid-August.

Russia says it was a simple case of hijacking and that the Maltese-flagged ship and its 15 crew were saved by the Russian navy. Nonsense say its critics.

Last month a Russian journalist, Mikhail Voitenko, alleged the ship was carrying a secret military cargo.

He has now gone into hiding in Thailand after receiving threats.

Speaking from there by telephone he told the BBC he was sure the Russian naval operation to seize the Arctic freighter was an elaborate charade to cover up what was in its cargo hold.

Earlier this month, eight men, including Russian, Estonian and Latvian nationals, were charged with hijacking and piracy.

In Moscow the lawyer representing one of the alleged pirates has also accused the Russian authorities of involvement in the hijacking.

He said that if Russia did take part in the hijacking of a foreign-registered ship it would be an international scandal, verging on an act of war.