Maritime Incidents--August 13, 2009

Maritime incidents from around the world

• M/V ARCTIC SEA Disappears

The M/V Arctic Sea, built in 1992 and owned by a Finnish company, disappeared from tracking systems in the early hours of July 30 off the northern French port of Brest. The ship was transporting timber and was bound for the Alerian port of Bejaia.

The ship was reported to have been boarded by up to 10 armed men dressed in police uniforms in the Baltic Sea, near the Swedish island of Oland. The armed men tied up the crew, injuring three of them, and ransacked the vessel stealing many items, including a satellite phone, before departing in a dinghy.

The mystery began when the attack was not reported for at least 10 days later, and by this time the Maltese-registered ship had vanished. The ship’s last contact was on July 29 when it radioed the British coastguard reporting its position in the Dover straits and heading for Algeria. The ship’s automatic identification system (AIS) confirmed the position.

The ship was later spotted by a patrol aircraft off the Portuguese coast, and was due in Bejaia more than a week ago, but never arrived. Speculation is that the ship was taken to the west coast of Africa by hijackers.

The Russian navy has sent ships from its Black Sea fleet to the Atlantic to hunt for the missing vessel, while Portugal is carrying out its own search.

• Indonesian Ferry Captain Jailed:

A ferry captain, whose vessel sank in the Makassar Strait on January 11, 2009 killing at least 335 people, was sentenced to nine years in prison by an Indonesian court.

Captain Sabir bin Andae was sentenced due to gross negligence when he allowed more people to board the Teratai Prima, which had a capacity of 250 passengers. The ferry hit stormy seas and the captain failed to tell passengers that the ship was in trouble and about to sink. He was one of only 35 passengers who survived the incident.

• Eight Fishermen Missing Near Ningbo

Eight people are missing after their fishing boat sank off the coast of east China's Zhejiang Province Tuesday, local authorities said.

The accident took place on the East China Sea near Xiangshan County of Ningbo City. The ship encountered strong winds and sank. The 15 crew members were thrown overboard, but only seven were rescued. Rescuers are continuing to search for the missing crew.