A missing cargo ship carrying 6,700m³ of timber from Finland has been found by the Russian navy, according to Russian media reports.
Russia’s RIA Novosti reports the Arctic Sea was found by a frigate several hundred kilometres off the Cape Verde islands, with all 12 crew reportedly safe.
More information about why the ship went missing is expected to emerge in the coming hours as the crew are interrogated.
Rets Timber was exporting the timber aboard the ship to Algeria when the vessel went missing. Earlier reports of the ship being briefly boarded in Swedish waters by masked men surfaced after the disappearance.
Timber milled by Stora Enso, UPM and a number of other Finnish sawmillers is aboard the Arctic Sea, with the consignment valued at an estimated €1.3m.
