Are Pirates Operating In Northern Europe?

  After a 4,000 tonne cargo vessel went missing authorities are asking are pirates operating in Northern Europe?

The "Artic Sea" was last heard from by British Coastguards as she prepared to enter the Dover Straits on the 28th July when four days earlier, the Maltese-registered ship had apparently been boarded in the Baltic Sea. The vessel is carrying about £1m worth of timber from Finland to Algeria, and it is feared that she with her 15 Russian crew was still under the control of pirates when contact was made with the British Coastguards.

Mark Clark, of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said, "In our experience this is unprecedented. This is piracy in a first world area - it's virtually unknown". The vessel was last heard from when she was reported by a ship tracking system off Breast.

Source Sky News, Photo Henrik Hilli