Eight arrested in freighter hijacking

MOSCOW — A Moscow court has arrested eight people suspected of hijacking a freighter at the center of a monthlong high-seas mystery, according to Russian news agencies.

The Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea left Finland on July 21 carrying a load of timber but then appeared to vanish in the Atlantic. It was found two weeks after it had been scheduled to arrive in Algeria thousands of miles off course and long out of radio contact. Maltese and other international authorities later admitted they had been tracking the ship.

Interfax and RIA Novosti say the freighter's suspected hijackers — citizens of Russia, Latvia, Estonia and three without citizenship — were arrested yesterday by Basmanny District Court in Moscow. No charges have yet been filed.

They denied guilt, claiming they were environmentalists who had sought refuge aboard the Arctic Sea after deserting their ship in a storm, the reports said.
Associated Press

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