A search is under way for a cargo ship which may have travelled through the English Channel after apparently being hijacked by pirates. Coastguards fear the Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea, carrying 15 Russian crew, was hijacked in the Baltic sea. UK authorities made contact before it entered the Strait of Dover but the Russian navy told the Itar-Tass agency it was now looking for the ship. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the situation was "bizarre". Spokesman Mark Clark said: "Who would think that a hijacked ship could pass through one of the most policed and concentrated waters in the world? "It seems strange to think that a ship which had been hijacked was passing along the channel along with ships carrying day-trippers going over to Calais for the day." 'Extremely curious' Hijackers may have been coercing the ship's crew when they made radio contact with coastguards at Dover on 28 July, the MCA fears. Reports say Swedish authorities were told by the Finnish shipping line operating the 3,988-tonne cargo ship that it was boarded by up to 10 armed men claiming to be anti-drugs police as it sailed through the Baltic sea on July 24. It could well be that a crew member had a gun put to his head
Mark Clark
Maritime and Coastguard Agency The intruders apparently left the vessel - which was carrying about £1m worth of sawn timber from Finland to Algeria - 12 hours later on an inflatable boat after damaging the Arctic Sea's communications equipment. But on 3 August, Interpol told Dover Coastguard that the crew had been hijacked in the Baltic Sea and asked UK authorities to be alert as the vessel passed through the channel. By then the ship had already left the Strait of Dover and was last recorded off the coast of Brest, northern France, just before 0130 BST on 30 July. The MCA said it was told the vessel had seemingly been spotted subsequently by a Portuguese coastal patrol aircraft but its current location was unknown. Mr Clark said the person on board whom coastguards had spoken to had told them the ship was due to arrive in Bejaia, northern Algeria, on 4 August at 2300 BST. He added: "There is no coastguard I know who can remember anything like this happening. "There didn't seem anything suspicious when contact was made. It could well be that a crew member had a gun put to his head by a hijacker when contact was made, but who knows? "We are extremely curious to find out what could have happened to this vessel." 'No different' World leaders have become increasingly concerned about pirates operating off the coast of Somalia. But Nick Davis, who runs the private security firm Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions, told the BBC's Today programme that the relatively low value of the cargo suggested this was a different kind of piracy to that seen off the coast of East Africa. Instead, he suggested, it was more likely that the apparent seizure was the result of a "commercial dispute" in which one party had decided to "take matters into their own hands". He added: "Piracy is piracy - if someone's wanting to take that vessel, and they're not authorised, and they use a speedboat to go and get it, then it's no different to what the Somalis do. "However, I don't believe they would have boarded that vessel firing weapons in the air, and threatening to kill the crew. "Whilst it is piracy, it's not like what we know in Somalia." Russian authorities have said they have been assessing the situation and Navy vessels have been notified, according to Itar-Tass. Vladimir Kochurov, deputy head of the Arkhangelsk regional administration's transport department, told the agency that there was "scarce information" about the Arctic Sea. He added: "Security services are holding the investigation. "Meanwhile, the regional administration is ready for rapid reaction in case the situation clarifies. We will give assistance to the crew."
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A cargo ship spotted off the African island nation of Cape Verde could be the missing MV ''Arctic Sea''.

The Maltese flagged MV ''Arctic Sea'' disappeared off the  French coast sometime after July 29. Owned by the Russian Arctic Sea company she was operated by the Finnish Solchart Management company and had a Russian crew. 

French intelligence sources have found a ship matching the Arctic Sea's description about 400 Nautical miles north of São Vicente.
 
The ''Arctic Sea'' was on a scheduled route from the Finnish seaport of Pietarsaari to the Algerian seaport of  Béjaïa with a cargo of timber when it was boarded in Swedish waters between the islands Öland and Gotland on the  night of July 24. The alleged boarders left the ship the same day according to its crew and the ship continued her voyage although it would have been expected to anchor at the nearest port. 

The last official contact with the ship was with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in Britain on July 28.  Viktor Matveyev, the director of Solchart Management says the ship radioed that it was off the coast of Portugal on July 31.  The 98-meter-long ship has so far not reached the Straits of Gibraltar and is now being sought by the Portuguese Navy and Russian Navy.

If proven this could be the first case of piracy in Europe in the modern era. There is speculation as to the reason for the ship's hijacking, as its cargo of wood, valued at 1.3 million euros, is not especially valuable. Suggestions include possible contraband, and the possibility of a commercial dispute between the crew or some other party and the ship's owners.