Russian Foreign Ministry: Arctic Sea situation boosting fight against piracy

All 15 Russian crew of a Maltese-flagged timber carrier are safely back in their home port city of Archangelsk after an ordeal at the hands of pirates. A Russian frigate freed their ‘Arctic Sea’ freighter off Cape Verde in August and escorted it to Malta for handing over to the owners. The captors are eight Russians, Latvians and Estonians. They seized the ship in the Baltic as it was under sail from Finland to Algeria. All are now in Moscow to face piracy charges which carry up to 20 years in jail. The Russian Foreign Ministry says the closure of the incident demonstrates the potential of international cooperation and should deter further attacks by pirates.