Missing ship may have secret cargo

just found this page
www.vesseltracker.com...

note info obscured

latest news extortion and hijacking claims confirmed
news.sky.com... 200908315361827?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_3&lid=ARTICLE_15361827_MV_Arctic_Sea%3A_Pirate_Ship_In_Atlantic_-_Malta_Confirms_Investigation_Into_Ex tortion_And_Hijacking

Finland says ransom demanded for missing ship

MOSCOW — Finnish investigators say a ransom demand has been made for a freighter that disappeared more than two weeks ago.
It is unclear, however, if the demand from purported hijackers of the Arctic Sea was legitimate.
Markku Ranta-Aho of Finland's National Bureau of Investigation told national YLE radio Saturday that "a ransom demand has been made and it was addressed to the shipping company which is based in Finland, and let's say it's a largish amount of money." He did not give details.
A Russian maritime Web site said Saturday that the ship's tracking system had sent signals Saturday from the Bay of Biscay off France, but French Marines rejected that and said the ship is likely somewhere off West Africa around Cape Verde.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian maritime Web site said the tracking system for a freighter missing since last month was broadcasting signals on Saturday from the Bay of Biscay, but French Marines said the signals were coming from Russian warships.
The contradictory claims deepened the mystery surrounding the ship, the Arctic Sea. On Friday, widespread reports suggested it may be in the vicinity of Cape Verde, off the coast of Africa some 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) south of the Bay of Biscay.
The respected Sovfrakht maritime site said the ship's signal appeared on a tracking service about 0830 GMT (4:30 a.m. EDT) Saturday in the Bay of Biscay.
The site cautioned, however, that the Arctic Sea's Automatic Identification System equipment may not be on the ship itself anymore. The signal disappeared after about an hour, it said.
Hours later, French Marines spokesman Capt. Jerome Baroe said the signals in question had come from Russian warships that were heading from the Mediterranean to the Baltic Sea. Those ships apparently are different from the vessels that the Russian Navy dispatched this week to search for the Arctic Sea.
The freighter, carrying a load of timber, has been missing since July 28 after passing through the English Channel.
Crew members had reported that the ship was attacked in Swedish waters on July 24 by up to a dozen masked men, who they said tied them up, questioned them about drug trafficking, beat them and searched the freighter before leaving.
Such an attack would have been unusual in European waters, and raised questions because it was not reported until the freighter had passed through Britain's busy shipping lanes. There have been fears that some of the attackers might still be aboard, or that the ship came under attack a second time.
Radio messages from the freighter were later picked up along coasts of France and Portugal, but efforts to pinpoint the Arctic Sea's whereabouts have been difficult in the vast Atlantic and with no communication from the ship's 15-member Russian crew.
Cape Verde authorities said they had no new information Saturday, though Russia's ambassador to the country, Alexander Karpushin, said there was no confirmation the Arctic Sea had been found.
Baroe said it is "extremely probable" that the ship is off Cape Verde. He said the French Marines operational center in Brest had received no information indicating the ship is off the French coast, and so has launched no search in that area.
The Arctic Sea, which left from Finland on July 23, had been due to make port Aug. 4 in Algeria with its euro1.3 million ($1.8 million) haul of timber.
The European Commission suggested the ship may have come under attack a second time off the Portuguese coast, spokesman Martin Selmayr said Friday.
Portugal's Foreign Ministry said, however, that the ship was never in Portuguese waters.
The ship's operator, Solchart Arkhangelsk, said it had no information about a possible second attack. It said the Arctic Sea's captain was 50-year-old Sergei Zaretsky, a veteran of such sea voyages, and the sailors were from the northwest Russian port city of Arkhangelsk.
Speculation on what might have happened to the ship has ranged from suspicions that it was carrying secret cargo — possibly narcotics — to theories about a commercial dispute. Security experts have been wary of attributing its disappearance to bandits, noting that piracy is almost unheard of in European waters.
"It would seem that these acts, such as they have been reported, have nothing in common with 'traditional' acts of piracy or armed robbery at sea," Selmayr said.

What comes to wondering why hijackers are demanding so late the ransoms (after two weeks aso.).

That's the view how we see it.


Hijackers were on the sea and they had to make sure that they are on a "better water" than some european country waters (which is full of ships and costguards) before they can demand ransoms etc.

Police authorities are investigating case immediately after 24.7. when possible first hijack occurred. At least what I know about Finnish and Swedish Police Auhtoratives and their politics, I can say that they will come to public with information that do not harm the investigation. So this I think is the case here. Cannot tell every details to the press all the time. Only after they can be sure that information does not effect bad way to investigation. Think that first when you are making idea of some huge conspiracy theory of nukes or something other.



[edit on 15-8-2009 by northwoods]

reply to post by john124


Nice one John!
That fits in nicely with what I said earlier...
Russians have now found the vessel and/or tracking devices!

Interestingly - ShipAIS.com (another vessel AIS tracking website) do NOT have a record of the new AIS transponder signal.

Most interesting part of Johns post was that the French marines say the signal came from Russian warships!

? false flag operation to get E.U member states evolved in the so called pirate hunt thats been going in around africas coast ?

Originally posted by northwoods
What comes to wondering why hijackers are demanding so late the ransoms (after two weeks aso.).

That's the view how we see it.

Police authorities are investigating case immediately after 24.7. when possible first hijack occurred. At least what I know about Finnish and Swedish Police Auhtoratives and their politics, I can say that they will come to public with information that do not harm the investigation. So this I think is the case here. Cannot tell every details to the press all the time. Only after they can be sure that information does not effect bad way to investigation. Think that first when you are making idea of some huge conspiracy theory of nukes or something other.

Hi Northwoods!
There were no reports of any hijack/boarding until the radio contact on July 28th, although the boarding itself was "said" to have taken place 4 days earlier. There is no way of confirming the identity of who radioed in that report.
But regardless of that, any conspiracy theories that I've seen put forward so far, have in no way contradicted your correct point, regarding the authorities having to hold back certain information.
G

reply to post by Gordi The Drummer

Moscow: A Russian maritime website said the tracking system for a freighter missing since last month was broadcasting signals on Saturday from the Bay of Biscay, but French Marines said the signals were coming from Russian warships. The contradictory claims deepened the mystery surrounding the ship, the Arctic Sea. On Friday, widespread reports suggested it may be in the vicinity of Cape Verde, off the coast of Africa some 3,200 kilometres south of the Bay of Biscay. The respected Sovfrakht maritime site said the ship's signal appeared on a tracking service about 0830 GMT on Saturday in the Bay of Biscay. The site cautioned, however, that the Arctic Sea's Automatic Identification System equipment may not be on the ship itself anymore. The signal disappeared after about an hour, it said.

www.gulfnews.com...

So, is it likely the Russian's are doing this all by themselves? Earlier on in this thread someone mentioned it could be a ploy to get the Russian fleet out the Black Sea?

Hours later, French Marines spokesman Captain Jerome Baroe said the signals in question had come from Russian warships that were heading from the Mediterranean to the Baltic Sea. Those ships apparently are different from the vessels that the Russian Navy dispatched this week to search for the Arctic Sea.

Sounds like there's allot of Russian warships moving around at the min!

Let's not forget about these 2 either.....

11th August : OTTAWA -- The air force has sent a surveillance plane to keep tabs on two Russian attack submarines cruising off the East Coast in a patrol that harkens back to the Cold War. The nuclear-powered subs were first spotted in international waters off Georgia on Aug. 5, raising eyebrows, but no sharp response from either the U.S. or Canada. Defence sources say it's believed the Akula II Class warships have since moved north, and remain outside of Canadian and American territorial limits, which extends 12 nautical miles into the ocean. It's unclear whether Canada took the initiative to have a CP-140 Aurora patrol plane watch the vessels, or whether there was a request from the U.S. Northern Command which tracks submarines.

www.ctv.ca...

Hmmmmm.

[edit on 15-8-2009 by wraith001]

[edit on 15-8-2009 by wraith001]

reply to post by wraith001


Hi Wraith,
My best guess is that the Russians were on full alert simply trying to find the vessel.
I reckon the US/UK special forces had taken it, to retrieve the hidden cargo, and planted the tracking devices on another vessel to confuse those looking for it. They caused enough confusion and distraction to keep the russians busy for a couple of weeks, giving them time to unload the cargo.
They then either returned the Arctic sea to Bay of Biscay (Where one report suggests the vessel was last sighted), so the russians could find it (empty of hidden cargo) or the russians have now found the decoy vessel and set off the AIS tracking system to check what ID it was transmitting.
G

Originally posted by Hellmutt
Imagine if...:

Al Qaeda has managed to buy one or more suitcase nukes from the Russian mafia and got it planted on the ship somehow. Bin laden has a lot of money and the Russian mafia (if given enough money) could do such a thing. The Russian mafia could have arranged for the nukes to be placed on the ship, with or without the crew being aware of what the cargo is. An Al Qaeda sleeping cell in Sweden then took over the ship near the Swedish coast. The ship could now be heading towards Cumbre Vieja or some port somewhere. I hope I'm wrong...

Just adding to this theory before I go to bed. Two sleeping cells. Team A boarded the ship near Sweden, in order to make sure that the nukes were really there. Made sure that the mafia held their part of the deal, and then left the ship. Then team B could have boarded the ship after it passed the english channel.

TOM CLANCY is that you!? I never thought I'd see you here!

So c'mon! spill the beans! what is the title of this great new novel of yours?


Jokes aside!

Your scenario about this incident would make a great novel or better! A GREAT MOVIE!

Do you by any chance have good connections with Hollywood so we can pitch this idea?

Or do you prefer a joint Scandinavian Film Production?


[edit on 15-8-2009 by Chevalerous]

Interestingly, the Arctic Sea AIS transponder signal which was activated this morning, was active for about 17 minutes, from 8:08am to 8:25am GMT and I've managed to ascertain that it was heading in a SW direction, bearing 214'.
Almost the exact OPPOSITE direction that you would expect the russian warships, (reported as being the source of the signal by French Marines) from travelling in, if they were travelling from the Med up to the Baltic??

Hardly any of the official "facts" about this make any sense!!

reply to post by Gordi The Drummer


Ya know Gordi, when i first heard about it, i said to my mate, " I bet we sank it because of Russia prowling the US east coast and funding $500 million to the Georgian breakaway regions for millitary base's, generally flexing there muscles".

But then, like someone said on here, you would soon see some debris from 4000 tons of wood.

Another report stated there hadn't been a hijack in European waters since the 16th Century?! lol then we get this, they risk there life's to hijack some wood?? Did they take 12 hours to identify what sort of wood it was?? "Ok we are sorry we boarded your ship, it seems after analysis we have discovered it's pine but we wanted Beech, your free to go". lol I don't believe it for a second!

Honestly, i don't have a clue, but i know one thing for sure, something is being hidden and a web spun.

reply to post by wraith001


LOL Yeah, I like a bit of Mahogany myself!!

I keep coming back to the point that the reported 1st boarding, was radioed in, FOUR DAYS after it supposedly happened??
Why wait 4 days?
Was it actually the crew who radioed in?
Or...
Was the vessel already under someone elses control? and the reported boarding was simply to stir up confusion... and lay the foundations for a "piracy" cover up?

Originally posted by northwoods
Latest news from KRP (Finnish Central Criminal Police). Highest Police auhtority in Finland, pretty similar than Criminal Investigation Department in England.

KRP has commented that Arctic Sea-case has been very widely investigated from very early stage co-operating with Swedish Police, Interpol and Europol. So far there has been different level of co-operating investigation with over 20 different countries. KRP also commented: "investigation is focused on very serious blackmail and hijack. Nothing further cannot be commented at this point"

Whew..... For a second I was worried that there was something to worry about. WTF is the very serious blackmail and hijacking that involves over 20 different countries???

Originally posted by Gordi The Drummer
reply to post by wraith001

 

LOL Yeah, I like a bit of Mahogany myself!!

I keep coming back to the point that the reported 1st boarding, was radioed in, FOUR DAYS after it supposedly happened??
Why wait 4 days?
Was it actually the crew who radioed in?
Or...
Was the vessel already under someone elses control? and the reported boarding was simply to stir up confusion... and lay the foundations for a "piracy" cover up?

You'd think common sense would tell you after being boarded and seriously injured they would port asap.

But it would seem the ransom news is getting to MSM now.....

edition.cnn.com...

What gets me is how come the transponder was operating for 17 minutes the smourning and the ship wasn't even there, however a group of Russian warships were. Even now they still don't know where it is? Or there not saying.

Hmmmm what if it was carrying said cruise nuke's which then met with the 2 Akula class subs that were off the US East Coast. After arming up the 2 Sub's went back to the US East Coast loaded with said missiles. Would that explain why they disappeared then reappeared of the coast near Canadian waters?

That would tie into why they had to make it look like piracy.

[edit on 15-8-2009 by wraith001]

reply to post by northwoods


Not two weeks. Three weeks !
Three weeks to sail from northern Europe to Cape Verde is like twice the time expected.
What better waters ? Cape Verde ? What will be different if they are surrounded by warships ? Do you really think there is a chance they could get away with that (assuming the story is true) ?
Why steal and hijack this insignificant ship ? It still does not add up.

Originally posted by wraith001
You'd think common sense would tell you after being boarded and seriously injured they would port asap.

Yes. And they were only a few hours away from Kaliningrad.

Ok, maybe old information but today in Finland tv news said that hi-jackers could kill ship crew and (?) this is reason for silence and disinformation. They are waiting ransom money?

[edit on 15-8-2009 by hande]

reply to post by wraith001


Hi Wraith,
Nah, if you think about it... Those subs would already be very heavily armed, including nukes. There would be no reason for them to rendez-vous with the Arctic Sea, apart from actually trying to locate it, so the Russians could get their lost (hidden) cargo back.
G

Originally posted by hande
Ok, maybe old information but today in Finland tv news said that hi-jackers could kill ship crew and (?) this is reason for silence and disinformation. They are waiting ransom money?

[edit on 15-8-2009 by hande]

Hi Hande,
Yeah, there is a possibility that, if the hijack story is correct, the hi-jackers could be threatening to kill the crew. But this seems to be the way the MSM are taking the story.
It doesn't ring true for several reasons already mentioned.
Why risk boarding the vessel in the heavily policed Baltic Sea?
Why risk sailing through the English Channel?
Why Radio in to Dover Coastguard (4 days later) to say that the vessel had been boarded?
Why supply Swedish police with details of the assaults which took place, including written statements???? (How did they get them??) and pictures of the injuries?
Why was there a 2nd boarding/hi-jacking reported?
Why did the AIS transponder start operating for a short period this morning in the Bay of Biscay? A signal reportedly coming from Russian warships??
I don't think a straight forward hi-jacking the crew for ransom makes sense. Why not just grab a few civilians off the street? Instead of confining yourself to a freighter, at sea, with a top speed of around 12knots? How on earth would they expect to escape with the money???
There is much more to this story than meets the eye.