By Jyrki Iivonen Guest Contributor
Dr. Jyrki Iivonen is Docent of Political Science, University of Helsinki, Finland.
During the night between 25 and 26 July, 2009, a curious incident took place in the Baltic Sea - in the sound between the Swedish islands of Oland and Gotland. It first became public four days later, when on July 30, news spread that a vessel called the Arctic Sea had been hijacked. A group of six men, disguised as policemen, had boarded the ship in the darkness of the night and kept the crew as hostages for twelve hours. They destroyed the communications instruments on board but finally took nothing, it was said. According to the Swedish police, the vessel was owned by a Finnish shipping company (although its owners are of Russian backgrounds), sailing under the Maltese flag and with a Russian crew. The ship was carrying timber from Finland to Algeria. The case was investigated by the Swedish police because the presumed crime took place within Swedish territorial waters.
(Click on Map of Sweden to enlarge, Perry-Castaneda Map Collection, University of Texas).
So far so clear.
But everything that has happened since July 30 has made it obvious that the whole case is, to quote Winston Churchill’s famous description of the Soviet Union, “an enigma wrapped in a mystery.” What happened on the Arctic Sea has really become an enigma. With every new answer three new questions are raised.
The sequence of events is relatively clear. When the news came out on July 30 that the vessel was lost, mainly because – so it was again argued – the communication instruments had been destroyed by the hijackers and the crew had continued towards Algeria as originally planned. No wonder then that after a few days, the police expressed suspicions that the hijackers were still on board. One entire week elapsed without any sign of the vessel. Spanish authorities revealed that the Arctic Sea definitely had not passed through Gibraltar.
On 9 August it was said that Russian authorities – and especially the secret police FSB – had started to search for the vessel. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, two submarines had been ordered to search for the vessel in the Atlantic area. There was now an assumption that instead of sailing to Algeria, the vessel had continued to the South, along the West Coast of Africa.
On 14 August, the Defense Minister of Cape Verde said that the vessel had been detected almost 500 miles north of the island and that the French Ministry of Defense would also know about the sighting. On the next day it was revealed by the Finnish police that the hijackers had demanded ransom from the shipping company, an announcement, however, that was not confirmed by the company.
Two days later, on August 17, Russian vessels found the Arctic Sea in the Atlantic, 300 miles from Cape Verde. Most of the crew members were transferred to a Russian naval vessel. It was also revealed that the media had been deliberately misled during the search operation, to protect the crew and to convince the hijackers that the authorities did not, in fact, know the whereabouts of the vessel. When the vessel had been detected and recaptured, the Russian ambassador to NATO, Dmitri Rogozin, told the media that the incident proved that Russia was quickly able to defend its interests and protect its citizens everywhere in the world and is also capable of cooperating with all major actors. (Photo of the Arctic Sea above right)
On August 18, Russian Defense Minister Anatoli Serdjukov announced that Russia had arrested eight persons suspected of the hijacking. Four of the men are Estonians, two Estonian-Russians and two Latvians. Estonia and Latvia immediately sent a note to Russia asking for more information about those arrested. Both the crew and those arrested were sent to Moscow for further interrogation. (Click on Map of Cape Verde to enlarge, Perry-Castaneda Map Collection, University of Texas)
Only ten days later the crew members were able to return home to Arkhangelsk. They are strictly forbidden to comment on the events to the media. The hijackers remain in Moscow and will - in due time - be taken to court.
This is what we know right now about the incident. But a large number of questions are still unanswered.
First, what was the vessel’s cargo? Timber is not so valuable that several countries would track the vessel along the Atlantic. There have been rumours and speculation – but only rumours and speculation – about whether there was something else on board, too. Weapons, nuclear materiel and drugs have been mentioned. It has also been suggested that the vessel was floating deeper in the water than if it had just carried timber and that, therefore, there must have been something else on board besides the timber.
Second, why was Russia so interested in the vessel? It is true that the crew was Russian and Russia has declared its intention to protect its citizens everywhere in the world. But legally the vessel was owned by a Finnish company and it was sailing under the Maltese flag. The hijacking took place in Swedish territorial waters, the cargo was on its way to Algeria and the vessel was found near Cap Verde. The hijackers were Estonians and Latvians. Several countries were involved but Russians assumed the right to try the hijackers.
Third, what was the role in the cooperation between intelligence agencies of different countries? Very little is known of this as well and the information that has been given out has often been contradictory. France has been active, as well as NATO as an organization. Did they cooperate with the Russian government and if yes, how?
Fourth, who are the hijackers and what were their motives? Although their nationalities are known, very little is known of their motives. They have themselves argued that they are actually environmentalists and that they were hijacked by the crew. But if they are only environmentalists, why did they arrange an operation against a vessel carrying Finnish timber and why did they disguise themselves as policemen?
As can be seen, numerous questions remain unanswered.
Finland’s Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen discussed the issue with his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin in Gdansk, Poland, on 1 September. Putin promised there that in the future the other countries concerned will be better informed about the developments of the case. But until then, very little is known of what really happened on the Arctic Sea during the two and half weeks when it was lost.