Russia says it has found a missing cargo¹ vessel² near the Cape³ Verde islands and retrieved⁴ its Russian crew.

俄罗斯称已经在佛得角群岛附近找到丢失的载货船并寻回船员。

The Arctic Sea went missing in mysterious circumstances last month

Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said that the 15-member crew had been taken on board a Russian navy vessel. They were in good condition, he said.

The Finnish-owned Arctic Sea went off radar⁵ after passing through the English Channel with its cargo of timber（木材，木料）.

Speculation⁶ over the cause of its disappearance⁷ had ranged from pirates to a mafia（黑手党，秘密政党） dispute to a commercial row.

The Arctic Sea was found at 0100 Monday (2100 GMT Sunday) 300 miles (480 km) off Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean, Tass news agency quoted Mr Serdyukov as telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

"The crew have been transferred to another ship. They are being interrogated⁸（质问，询问） now in order to find out what happened," Mr Serdyukov said.

The sailors were "alive, healthy and are not under armed guard", the agency quoted him as saying.

Malta's Maritime⁹ Security Committee confirmed that the vessel was in the hands of the Russian military. Further clarification in the case was being sought, it said in a statement.

Carrying timber reportedly worth $1.8m (£1.1m), the 4,000-tonne Maltese-flagged vessel sailed from Finland and had been scheduled to dock in the Algerian port of Bejaia on 4 August.

The crew reported having been boarded by up to 10 armed men as the ship sailed through the Baltic Sea on 24 July, but the intruders（侵入者，干扰者） were reported to have left the vessel on an inflatable boat（充气橡皮艇） after 12 hours.

The last known contact with the crew was when the Arctic Sea reported to British maritime（海上的，海事的） authorities in Dover as it passed through the English Channel.

It was then sighted in the Bay of Biscay on 30 July.

On Saturday, police in Finland said a ransom¹⁰ demand had been made, but emphasised that they could not confirm its authenticity（确实性，真实性）.