Missing ship may have held missiles

Reports are emerging that the Arctic Sea, a Russian-manned cargo ship recently rescued after a piracy attack was intercepted by Israel as it carried a secret cargo of weapons to the Middle East, says TIME magazine.

Reporter on piracy and a former commander of the Estonian armed forces, Admiral Tarmo Kouts said in an interview with TIME that only a shipment of missiles could account for Russia's "bizarre" behaviour throughout the month long saga.

"There is the idea that there were missiles aboard, and one can't explain this situation in any other way," he said in the interview. "As a sailor with years of experience, I can tell you that the official versions are not realistic."

But this theory has been vehemently denied by Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitri Rogozin, who says Kouts should stop "running his mouth" reports TIME.

On July 21 the Arctic Sea sailed from Finland to Algeria reportedly with approximately NZ$2.9 million worth of timber as cargo.

On July 30, Swedish police said the ship's owner had reported that the crew claimed the vessel had been boarded by masked men on July 24 near the Swedish island of Gotland.

The invaders reportedly had tied up the crew, beat them, claimed they were looking for drugs, then sped off about 12 hours later in an inflatable craft.

By the time the Swedish report of the attack had emerged, the ship had already passed through the English Channel, where it made its last known radio contact on July 28.

On August 12, the Russian navy sent out a search party.

The disappearance of the 98m freighter perplexed experts and officials across Europe, with speculation about what happened ranging from its being seized by pirates to involvement in a murky commercial dispute.

TIME writes that there are baffling details left unexplained.

Unanswered questions raised by TIME, include:

* What did the brother of one of the alleged hijackers, Dmitri Bartenev, mean when he told Estonian TV that his brother and the other suspected pirates had been "set up ... They went to find work and ended up in a political conflict. Now they are hostage to some kind of political game"?

* Why would hijackers target the Arctic Sea when there were other ships carrying much more valuable cargo in waters?

* Why did Israeli President Shimon Peres pay a surprise visit to Russia a day after the ship was rescued?

* Why were destroyers and submarines used to look for a missing vessel carrying timber?

* Why did Russia wait so long to send its navy to find the ship?

* Why were 2 military-cargo planes used to carry 19 alleged pirates and crew back to Moscow?

* On arrival, why were the ship's crew detained along with the alleged hijackers for days of questioning, with no access to their families or the media?

Times Online reports that General Nikolai Makarov, the Russian Army's top general has hinted that there might be more to the story than first thought.

"We know is that it is carrying timber, but an investigation should determine whether it is carrying anything else." Makarov told reporters says Times Online.

- NZHERALD STAFF