Has Piracy Spread to Europe's Waters? Update 4: Arctic Sea Located

Russia Finds Missing Merchant Ship Near Cape Verde Islands

The Russian-crewed freighter that sparked a high-seas mystery when it disappeared nearly three weeks ago has been found by a Russian naval frigate off the West African coast, the country's defense minister said Monday. The Arctic Sea's 15 crew members, last heard from July 28, were alive and now aboard the navy ship, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said in a meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev shown on national television.

Serdyukov said the crew was not under armed control when the ship was found around 2100 GMT (5 p.m. EDT) Sunday about 300 miles away from the island nation of Cape Verde. The crew are all alive and healthy. He did not give details about what happened to the ship, saying the full story could be made known later Monday.

Adding to the mystery, Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, told the ITAR-Tass news agency Monday that bogus information was deliberately provided to news media "which did not allow them to calculate the true actions of the Russian forces."