Four sailors, who remained on board the MV “Arctic Sea” cargo vessel after a mysterious hijacking case, have returned to their home base in northern Russia.
“I am happy to be back home,” the captain of the ship, Sergei Zaretsky, told reporters in Arkhangelsk as soon as he landed on Monday.
He criticized the media for it “controversial and biased coverage” of the Arctic Sea incident, claiming that the ship carried a shipment of timber rather than an “allegedly illegal cargo”, Russian news agencies quoted him as saying.
The other 11 Russian crewmen had already been sent home. They were held for several weeks for questioning by Russian authorities and were subsequently released, reportedly after being sworn to secrecy.
The Arctic Sea had disappeared in the Atlantic on 24 July 2009 while carrying a US$2 million shipment of timber from Finland to Algeria and was intercepted by the Russian Navy off West Africa on 17 August 2009, when eight alleged hijackers were arrested.
The ship had been anchored to the east of Gibraltar for weeks and guarded by two Russian vessels as Algeria, the vessel’s original destination, denied the vessel entry.
It was then towed to Malta, where it was given permission to enter the port last Thursday night following a thorough inspection by Maltese officials.
The MV Arctic Sea, berthed in Grand Harbour at 7.15 pm on Thursday evening after Russian authorities had transferred the ship to its owners just outside Maltese territorial waters.
The Maltese-flagged ship was certified safe to berth in Malta after inspections were carried out by the Civil Protection Department CPD), the Maltese police and Malta Maritime Authority (MMA) inspectors.
The Arctic Sea was carrying timber and was expected to have some repair works done in Malta.
It was towed into Grand Harbour by a Tug Malta vessel because of problems to its steering mechanism. The ship was berthed at Boiler Wharf without any additional security measures around it.
The ship had entered port manned by the original four-man crew, who had been on board since the hijacking at the start of summer.
The cargo vessel was escorted to about 14 Nautical Miles to the East of Marsaxlokk by a Russian military ship on Wednesday and CPD officials boarded at about 10.35 a.m.
By 4 p.m. the Maltese personnel had certified that the vessel contained no nuclear or hazardous material.
The head of Finnish company Solchart, the ship’s operator, said shortly after the inspection was concluded that it showed the Arctic Sea “was not carrying any illegal cargo”.
A new crew of 14 sailors had flown from Russia to Malta on last Wednesday night to replace the captain and three sailors who had remained on the vessel.
The ship’s disappearance, which had triggered a major international search effort, had raised suspicions about it carrying a “secret cargo” of drugs or weapons.
Russian authorities had denied the claims, saying the vessel “was hijacked by criminals who demanded a ransom”.
Russia’s special investigations committee announced last Friday that all 14 crewmembers of the Arctic Sea had been formally recognized as victims of a pirate attack.
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