• Print
• E-Mail
• Feedback

08/19/2009

 

Further details about the mysterious journey and hijacking of the Russian freighter Arctic Sea are slowly emerging. The 4,000-ton ship disappeared at the end of July en-route to Algeria with a load of timber after crew reported that they had been boarded by a group of men in an inflatable boat, claiming to be police looking for drugs. After a search-and-rescue operation was launched by the Russian navy, the ship was relocated last weekend off the coast of West Africa. The 15-strong Russian crew was rescued and eight alleged hijackers, from Russia, Estonia and Latvia, were arrested.

Over the past few days it has emerged, via information from Finnish broadcasters, that the rescue operation was a joint effort between Russian, Swedish, Maltese and Finnish officials and that these authorities knew where the freighter was but didn't inform any media in order to allow a Russian frigate to get to the location and secure the hostages' release. The ship's Moscow-based insurers also confirmed that they had received a ransom demand for $1.5 million from a third person claiming to be an intermediary for the hijackers.

Nonetheless, not everyone is convinced and commentators suggest there are still gaps in the Russian story. As Russian radio talk show host, Yulia Latynina of the Echo of Moscow station, writes in a column in the Moscow Times, "now instead of a possible tragedy we'll see a cover-up operation."

In Germany, commentators have reached the conclusion that, even if the case has not been fully explained, it is also possibly the first major case of piracy in European waters since the 17th century. No matter whether the perpetrators were bona fide pirates, hijackers with an unknown agenda or members of some nation's secret service, the situation bears investigating simply because of what it says about European maritime security.

In an editorial for SPIEGEL ONLINE, Moscow correspondent Uwe Klussman writes:

"Another victory for Russia. And this time it's not from out of the Caucasus, but from upon the high seas. The crew of the Russian frigate Ladny has freed the 15 sailors of the Arctic Sea from their pirate captors."

"As Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov reported so proudly to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, 'According to your instructions, we searched for the ship and found it.' Serdyukov could certainly use this sort of success -- due to controversial reforms he is not a particularly beloved figure among army and military staff. After another wave of terror attacks in the north Caucasus, Russia is also looking for a success it can take pride in. And Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, spoke of how 'brilliant' the rescue mission was and praised the co-operation between the NATO allies. Because despite differences over Georgia, Moscow is looking for a partial consensus with NATO partners. The Russians don't want to look like they are global troublemakers."

"But at the same time as all this congratulatory chatter, it is obvious that there is something else going on here. Rogozin was full of praise for the secretiveness of the hunt for the ship. He also complimented the Arctic Sea crew's family and friends for deciding not to speak to journalists, as had been recommended by Russian domestic intelligence."

"As laudable as these attempts at secrecy are -- since they were aimed at preventing the worst from happening to the kidnapped crew -- they also mean that we are being kept in the dark about what actually happened to the ship and the motives of the perpetrators. Was the 4,706-ton ship, which sails under the Maltese flag, just carrying timber or were there also weapons onboard? Demand from certain despotic African leaders for arms is high. Nations that were already well on the way toward 'non-capitalistic development' during the days of the Soviet empire have become poorhouses with weapons caches. It is still unclear where the ship was during the days it was missing."

"The shipping industry in Russia is permeated with criminal and other influences. And sometimes these influencers only differ from actual pirates in that they are more efficient and have better connections in the Russian government. All that this anti-piracy ideology currently enthusiastically being espoused by the Russian government is really doing is allowing those engaged in dubious maritime activities to hide behind a fog of disinformation."

"Just as in the 'war on international terrorism,' the means justify the ends. Any soldier that cries 'pirate' -- or even better, 'al-Qaida' -- will find few attorneys willing to look further into the cause of death."

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

If what the Russian defense minister is saying is correct, then this is a scandal and a disgrace for European security. It is frightening that pirates could take a ship through the Baltic Sea and the Dover Strait, through some of the busiest waterways in the world and past several European Union nations. You only have to imagine what would happen if the Arctic Sea was a tanker and the hijackers were terrorists instead of just criminals. The nine neighboring Baltic nations belong to a range of maritime organizations. If the ill-fated odyssey of the Arctic Sea leads to only one thing, then that should be a re-thinking of security around these structures."

The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

"It's quite possible that the hijacking and later rescue of the Arctic Sea will make the stuff of a Hollywood film some time down the road. But before that it would be nice to know how something like this could happen in European waters. That information about the incident was limited, or even deliberately misleading, in order to protect the hostages, is perhaps understandable. But the fact that the shipping company responsible for the freighter only informed the Swedish and Finnish maritime authorities so late in the game is dubious. One might also ask whether there were problems in communication between the various Baltic Sea states? Everyone is busy congratulating the various states on their tremendous effort in co-operating on the rescue, but these questions should not be ignored. And if the maritime officials responsible did know the whereabouts of the ship the whole time, then one must also ask why they didn't do anything about it earlier -- while the ship was in the Baltic Sea or in the Dover Strait, for instance."