A missing cargo ship believed to have sailed through the English Channel after being boarded by pirates has been found with all its crew safe on board.
The Arctic Sea was found about 300 miles off the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa, said Russia's defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov said.
He said the ship's 15-man Russian crew was taken aboard a naval vessel.
No further details were given about what had happened to the ship since it went missing more than two weeks ago.
It emerged on Saturday that a multi-national investigation had been launched into a ransom demand for the Maltese-flagged vessel.
The Russian minister said the crew was not under armed control when the ship was found.
The disappearance of the 320-foot Arctic Sea perplexed experts and officials across Europe, with speculation about what happened ranging from its being seized by pirates to being involved in a murky commercial dispute.
It had been due to dock on August 4 in an Algerian port, but its vanishing brought little attention until Russia last week ordered its military to take "all necessary measures" to find the freighter.
Finnish investigators reported on Saturday that the ship's owners had received a ransom demand. But it was not clear if the demand came from people who actually held the ship, or from opportunistic charlatans.
