Investigators have lifted the arrest of the Arctic Sea and will turn over the cargo ship to Maltese authorities in the next few days, the Investigative Committee said Wednesday.
The Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea has stayed in international waters near Malta since Moscow’s Basmanny District Court sanctioned its arrest in late August, the committee said in a statement.
The ship was heading toward Malta on Wednesday and will arrive there Thursday, after which negotiations about the ship’s handover to local authorities will start, RIA-Novosti reported, citing a source in “military diplomatic circles.”
However, a source at the Russian Embassy in Malta told Interfax that the ship was unlikely to dock by Thursday.
Maltese authorities have demanded that they be allowed to examine the ship before it arrives.
The Arctic Sea and its crew of 15 Russian sailors vanished July 24 off the Swedish coast while carrying a cargo of timber from Finland to Algeria. The Navy announced the seizure of the ship and eight suspected hijackers on Aug. 17 off the western African coast.
Eleven sailors and the suspected hijackers were subsequently flown to Russia, while the four other sailors have stayed on board the ship.
Russia had asked Algeria for permission to dock the ship in its port, but local authorities refused, RIA-Novosti said.
The Arctic Sea is being towed to Malta under the escort of Black Sea Fleet vessels, RIA-Novosti said.
Much remains unexplained about the Arctic Sea and why pirates would target a ship carrying just $1.8 million in lumber. The uncertainty has prompted speculation that the ship was carrying a secret cargo of missiles for Iran that was detected by Israeli intelligence.
Investigators have given few details about their activities on the Arctic Sea.
Heightening the mystery, Mikhail Voitenko, the editor of a web site that was the first to point out inconsistencies in the authorities’ account of the ship’s saga, fled Russia last month after receiving threats.
In an odd twist, President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday jokingly suggested that the Federal Space Agency call its systems that track and monitor moving objects “the Arctic Sea.”
Medvedev made the suggestion after hearing a report from Federal Space Agency head Anatoly Perminov at a meeting on the modernization and technological development of the economy.
“I have even thought up a name for the project,” Medvedev said with a smile, Prime-Tass reported. “You should call it the Arctic Sea.”
Perminov did not grasp the humor and replied, “If necessary, we’ll name it that.”
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