Missing ship found off Cape Verde,crew safe: Russia

The fate of the missing ship,the Arctic Sea,has captivated Europeans from Madrid to Moscow since it vanished seemingly without a trace off the coast of Portugal in late July. It was not immediately clear how the ship remained undetected for so long,or how it was lost in the first place.

The Arctic Sea was discovered at 1 am Moscow time on Monday,300 miles off the Cape Verde islands, said Serdyukov. All crew members are alive,and they are feeling well. They were not under armed control, he said.

There had been unsubstantiated reports that the ship may have been hijacked. Finnish police over the weekend said that a ransom had been demanded,though it was not clear how credible the demand was.

I think in the next few hours we will explain8230; what happened,how and why communication was lost,why and how it changed course and any other nuances connected with this, Serdyukov said.