Arctic Sea: now L.T.W. Express, Gustavia I., Anguilla

L.T.W. Express, ex-Shelley Express, Gustavia I., Anguilla

L.T.W.EXPRESS 

(Ship name as reported by AIS: L.T.W. EXPRESS)

 [Leading the way, LLC .... UAE leading the way in energy transition ??]

General Cargo  General Cargo

IMO:  8912792

MMSI: 376859000

Type: GENERAL CARGO

Gross Tonnage: 3988

Summer DWT: 4706 t

Build: 1991

Flag: SAINT VINCENT & GRENADINES

ex-names

Vessel Name: SHELLEY EXPRESS

Flag: PA

Last Reported: 2015-05-07 09:40:00

Vessel Name: ARCTIC SEA

Flag: BB

Last Reported: 2011-11-03 15:26:00

Vessel Name: ARCTIC SEA

Flag: MT

Last Reported: 2010-05-12 08:55:00

Vessel Name: JOGAILA

Last Reported: 2005-03-01

Vessel Name: TORM SENEGAL

Last Reported: 2000-05-01

Vessel Name: ALRAI

Last Reported: 1998-12-01

Vessel Name: ZIM VENEZUELA

Last Reported: 1998-05-01

Vessel Name: OKHOTSKOE

Last Reported: 1996-01-01

read, also, see

[March 14, 2015 The AIS satellite-tracking device removed and transmitting? ]:

Shelley Express ex-Arctic Sea

Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 13 lifted a five-year ban on delivery of the S-300 air defense missile system. It would significantly bolster the Islamic republic's military capability by providing a strong deterrent against any air attack.   The White House said Secretary of State John Kerry had raised concerns over the move in a conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

]March 3 2014 Shelley Express at Las Palmas]

Shelley Express still at Las Palmas

Shelley Express, ex Arctic Sea   It's ba-ack

In August 2009, the 'hijacked' Arctic Sea was off Las Palmas.   Three Russian Il-76 transport planes (each capable of carrying 44 tons of cargo) were used to bring in the crew and maybe Surface-to-Air S-300 missiles destined for Iran by the Russian industrial complex. Perhaps after the urging of interested nations, the Moscow government intervened with naval forces, 'found' the vessel and sentenced the woeful hijackers,  a Latvian and an Estonian, as well as three others described as stateless.   This is a brief statement of an intriguing mystery.   more   also and read

Owner Pmac Maritime, P.O.# 60011, Sharjah UAE >>>Petrofac International Ltd.[FTSE 100] ???   {April 2013)

Russia to deliver S-300 air defense missile system to Iran

Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 13 lifted a five-year ban on delivery to Iran of the S-300 air defense missile system. It would significantly bolster the Islamic republic's military capability by providing a strong deterrent against any air attack.

The White House said Secretary of State John Kerry had raised concerns over the move in a conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

[August 16 2012 Alaed: transits Suez Canal]

into Red Sea.

[Aug 11]traversing Mediterranean

Alaed, anchored,  with Padre Piolini near Malta

[August 8]

[August 4]

Alaed off Brest, France headed for De Kastri near Sakhalin and North Korea

[July 20]A Russian cargo ship carrying a batch of Mi-25 attack helicopters and air defense systems for Syria has offloaded the aircraft in the Russian port of Baltiysk in the Kaliningrad region, a security source said on Friday.

"The ship has unloaded," the source said. "These helicopters are now on the shore. A decision from Rosoboronexport on what to do with them is expected shortly."

The helicopters, which were originally overhauled at the 150th aircraft repair plant in Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad,

[June 26]"The ship Alaed when departing from Murmansk and through the whole way to Syrian port Tartus will be necessarily provided with escort to avoid provocations". 

"When sailing alone, the ship may get into an unpleasant situation which then could be justified by pirates or sea environment, so Alaed needs eyewitnesses and, if necessary, prompt assistance". 

The interviewee stressed that Alaed would be escorted not by a warship or supply vessel subordinated to Russian Navy "in order to avoid undesirable involvement of Russian Navy in this complex and ambiguous issue; the cargo ship will be accompanied with a civil vessel". 

[June 26]Russia’s main weapons producer has allegedly suspended its contract with Syria to supply S-300 long-range missile systems. Russia’s ‘Vedomosti’ daily published the report, citing unnamed sources within the military-industrial complex.
The very fact of the contract’s existence was not known until it was revealed in an annual report made only last week and published online by the makers of the S-300 systems, Almaz-Antey.
The report states that the company’s largest contracts are with Algeria (which is paying $39 million for a long-range missile defense system), and Syria, which signed a contract for the same system for $105 million.... However, the circumstances in 2010 were rather different. If Russia had fulfilled its contractual obligations back then, it would have been violating an international embargo. But no such embargo currently affects contracts between Russia and Syria.
 But President Vladimir Putin had previously said the arms that Russia delivers cannot be used in civil conflicts, and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, stated the supplies were merely defensive weapons sold in contracts signed long ago.
“We are sending no battleships to Syria. We have been saying publicly that we have been implementing contracts under which we have to supply arms to Syria. These armaments are entirely defensive and they mostly consist of air defense systems, which cannot be used against the population and can only be used to respond to outside aggression,” Lavrov told RT.

earlier

Alaed moored at Murmansk

 [June 25]A Russian ship carrying attack helicopters that was prevented from sailing to Syria has been refitted with a Russian flag, rousing suspicions it is preparing for a second attempt.   Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, admitted that the Alaed was carrying supplies for Syria. "The ship was carrying air defence systems, which can be used only for repelling foreign aggression and not against peaceful demonstrators, and it was carrying three repaired helicopters,"

[June 23]The Russian ship MV Alaed, carrying a cargo of overhauled Russian-made Mil Mi-25 helicopter gunships bound for Syria, will dock in the north Russian port of Murmansk on Saturday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on June 21.

"While transiting the North Sea to the Atlantic, the ship-owner was informed that its third-party insurance cover had been withdrawn, and the classification agency in which the ship is located - although it is registered under a Curacao flag - demanded it go into a port for inspection. In order to avoid delay, it was decided to dock in Murmansk where it is expected on June 23, for re-registration under the Russian flag," he said.

June 19]In a statement given on June 20, Femco denied the allegations of illegality, insisting that it would never jeopardise its reputation for "reliability and business integrity".
"Reports about illegal actions of the MC Alaed's owner are inaccurate," read the statement. "The vessel is currently making a regular commercial voyage, in full accordance with international norms and rules."

[June 10]Washington, which has condemned Moscow for continuing to arm the Syrian regime, has asked British officials to help stop the Alaed though owned by Curacao-based company, but operated by a Russian company Femco, based in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin island, Russian Far East.  from delivering its alleged cargo by using sanctions legislation to force its London-based insurer to withdraw its cover.
Under the terms of the current European Union arms embargo against Syria, imposed in May last year, there is a ban on the "transfer or export" of arms and any related "brokering" services such as insurance

A Moscow-based defense analyst said the Alaed was carrying helicopters that were bought by Syria during the Soviet era and had been sent back to Russia for repair in the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad.

“I am sure based on open source material that the ship is carrying 12-15 helicopters that were repaired in Kaliningrad and are on their way to Syria,” said Ruslan Aliyev, who works at defence think tank CAST, referring to an order of M-25 helicopters.

“They were old helicopters bought by (Assad’s late father and predecessor) Hafez al-Assad, I believe at the end of the 1980s.”

Vessel's Details
Ship Type: Cargo
Year Built: 2010
Length x Breadth: 130 m X 20 m
Gross Tonnage: 7579, DeadWeight: 9000 t
Speed recorded (Max / Average): 13 / 12.8 knots
Flag: Neth.Antilles [AN] 
Call Sign: PJOS
IMO: 9574999, MMSI: 306064000

ALAED Neth.Antilles PJOS 2012-06-09 08:22
AOLI 8 Belize V3NY7 2011-10-30 06:30

Vessel left S-Petersburg on June 8 and on June 10 called Baltiysk, a well-known military base on Baltic sea. Vessel left Baltiysk on June 11. m/v Alaed last and ongoing voyages are a mystery

[June 15]Moscow has sent a ship carrying a small contingent of combat forces to guard Russia’s deep-water port and military base at the Syrian city of Tartus, the US officials said.Russian special forces have arrived in the Syrian Mediterranean port city of Tartus, opposition sources told Al Arabiya on Monday. 

Israeli-based open source military intelligence website DEBKAfile has also reported that two Russian naval vessels have anchored at the Syrian port of Tartus.
A source close to Russia's arms exporting monopoly Rosoboronexport said Clinton's comments may have referred to helicopters sent to Russia in 2009 for repairs and which may be on the way back to Syria. 
The source said on Wednesday at least nine Mi-25 helicopters were sent to Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad to be repaired by Oboronservis, owned by the Defense Ministry. 

The US state department has acknowledged that Russian helicopters it claimed had been sent recently to the Syrian regime were, in fact, refurbished ones already owned by Damascus.

Secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, claimed on June 12 that "the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way fromRussia to Syria".

The state department admitted details had been omitted from Clinton's speech in which she accused Russia of escalating the violent situation in Syria. But spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said: "Whether they are new or they are refurbished, the concern remains that they will be used for the exact same purpose that the current helicopters in Syria are being used, and that is to kill civilians.

"These are helicopters that have been out of the fight for some six months or longer. They are freshly refurbished. The question is simply what one expects them to be used for when one sees what the current fleet is doing. Every helicopter that is flying and working is attacking a new civilian location so the concern is when you add three more freshly refurbished helicopters to the fight, that is three more that can be used to kill civilians."

[June 12]we are concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria, which will escalate the conflict quite dramatically.  A spokeswoman, however, made clear that Clinton's concerns pertained to helicopters now en route to Syria and not about the possible past sale of Russian-origin attack helicopters to Syria.

Briese and Eide:big in the arms trade, report

Any ship can transport boxes of bullets or radar components; the value-add for shipping “typical” exports like guns or tanks is trustworthiness (implying connections with government officials) and general competency. A normal shipping company—i.e. one with ro-ros, container ships, etc.—seeking to enter the Russian and Ukrainian weapons market would do well to establish a relationship with Odessa companies such as Kaalbye in order to leverage their unique political connections.

The German firm Briese Schiffahrts GmbH and Co KG is another transporter of Russian and Ukrainian weapons. Based in Leer, Germany, Briese is one of the largest shipping companies in Germany and among the largest heavy-lift shippers in the world, with a fleet of over 140 ships. Heavy lift ships typically carry their own cranes, and so can move large, heavy, and unusually shaped cargo such as tanks, artillery, etc. Bulk carriers and normal cargo ships—such as those owned by Kaalbye Shipping—cannot do so. This ability becomes even more useful if the port of discharge lacks proper infrastructure for handling such bulky cargo, since the ship can use its own crane rather than relying on old or non-existent port equipment. We believe that this gives Briese (and other EU heavy-lift firms discussed later) an important functional role in the Odessa Network: heavy weapons shipments, in particular to poor-infrastructure countries. This judgment is born of empirical data.

Briese has facilitated involved transporting heavy military equipment to poor-infrastructure states. Briese ships appear to be heavily staffed with Russian and Ukrainian captains and seamen, reflecting the fact that most of Briese’s crewing business comes from Russia and Ukraine.

2 The Norwegian firm Eide Marine Services is the second most frequent weapons transporter in our dataset. Eide is one of the few firms which possesses exactly such a ship, the Eide Transporter, which has been used multiple times to move unusual Russian military cargo to foreign customers. This includes Tarantul -class missile corvettes, Gepard -class frigates, and Svetlyak -class patrol boats to Vietnam, and Kilo -class submarines to China.

The Odessa Network centers on a group of Odessa-based private companies that regularly move large arms shipments. Affiliated EU and Russian shipping firms such as Briese Schiffahrts (and its subsidiary BBC Chartering) and Balchart play an important specialized role in transporting particularly large or sensitive shipments. The network is deeply interconnected. Personnel and equipment frequently cycle between different companies, and many network members are family members, close friends, former classmates, etc. The vast majority of weapons shipments leave from the Ukrainian port of Oktyabrsk, which was specially built by the USSR to move weapons (for example, this was the point of origin for Cuba-bound missiles in 1963). Despite being located in Ukraine, Oktyabrsk is functionally controlled by Russia—the port manager is a former Russian navy captain, and the port owner is a Kremlin-linked oligarch. Russian state weapons export agencies and Odessa Network firms maintain offices and personnelin Oktyabrsk.
more [September 7 2013]

A new study by independent conflict researchers describes a heavy volume of traffic in the past two years from Ukraine’s Oktyabrsk port, just up the Black Sea coast from Odessa, to Syria’s main ports on the Mediterranean. The dozens of ships making the journey ranged from smaller Syrian- and Lebanese-flagged vessels to tanker-size behemoths with a long history of hauling weapons cargos.Despite being in Ukraine, Oktyabrsk “is functionally controlled by Russia,” and the port is headed by a former Russian navy captain and owned by a business magnate with close ties to the Kremlin, the report said. Major Russian weapons exporters have offices there, alongside Ukrainian and Russian shipping and logistics companies the report has dubbed the “Odessa Network.”
http://www.c4ads.org/

Arctic Sea: Shelley Express flies Panama flag

Just in time for 2012, Panama flag for Shelley Express


Shelley Express (IMO Number: 8912792)
more

Arctic Sea: those two Ilyushin-76 cargo planes

A COURT in Russia's far northern region of Arkhangelsk is hearing testimony from six men accused of hijacking the Arctic Sea, a cargo ship, in 2009, the bizarre disappearance of which prompted international speculation about a secret Russian arms sale to the Middle East gone awry. see
Alexei Bartenev, the brother of one of the defendants, says the case remains a mystery. Why Russia flew the eight alleged hijackers and some of the crew - 16 people in all - were flown from Canary Islands to Russia on two large Ilyushin-76 cargo planes capable of carrying 40 tons each, if not also to carry weapons or other illicit cargo. "All I can say is that it's very suspicious."
Economist
earlier
and then

Arctic Sea: wobegone hijackers go to trial

Tatyana Barteneva, mother of Dmitry Bartenev




Irina Verenich wife of Aleksei Andrushin



Tatyana Seleven, wife of Igor Borisov





Nastya Strelkova, Andrushin's sister


Arkhangelsk regional court is trying six for seizure of the Arctic Sea: Alexei Andryushin, Dmitry Bartenev, Alexei Buleyev, Igor Borisov, Vitalijs Lepins and Yevgeny Mironov Five defendants pleaded partially guilty, and one pleaded guilty to all the charges,"
The review of the 52-volume criminal case is expected to last several months. The families of the men on trial for piracy say the highly unlikely hijackers are the biggest victims in the case. Few in Estonia believe there's any chance they'll soon return to Lasnamae.

People in Tallinn's Russian community who know the men dismiss the allegations as absurd. They say the alleged hijackers are ordinary layabouts, petty criminals and heavy drinkers who couldn't possibly have been capable of pulling off a major international heist on the high seas.

Tatyana Barteneva's son Dmitry Bartenev is one of the men on trial in Moscow. Inside the tidy, cramped apartment she shared until recently with both her two grown sons, the 63-year-old nurse with a blond bob hairstyle defends Bartenev and the other alleged hijackers as the victims of a plot they didn't understand.

"I don't think they're such idiots as to pick a fight with Russia," she says. "Why would they need that?"

Barteneva has lived in Tallinn since the age of 9, when her father, a Soviet military officer, was posted here in the 1950s. Her late husband was the captain of a fishing trawler, and their son Dmitry took odd jobs at sea.

Tallinn's Lasmanae neighborhood, the home of many ethnic Russians
According to his brother Aleksei Bartenev, Dmitry was unemployed last March when he noticed a leaflet outside a local supermarket advertising security work in Spain. A big man with prominent features and a crew-cut, the 42-year-old sometime sailor was on probation for drunk driving. He described the job to several of his friends, who jumped at the chance to travel abroad for pay.

The men shared similar backgrounds. Born in Estonia, all but one never met the tough requirements for Estonian citizenship. Locals say Bartenev and others like him are part of a lost generation of former Soviets who were unprepared to make it in what became a new country after the communist collapse.
“I think they were framed, and it is not just my opinion, everybody who knows them also thinks so,” Alexei Bartenev. “They were seeking a job and got involved in a political conflict, were made hostages of a political game.”
Sitting in a popular local bar called Zanzibar, where leopard-print seat pillows offer some visual relief from the uniform apartment blocks outside, Irina Verenich the wife of Aleksei Andrushin -- an unemployed, 28-year-old construction worker --"I told him so many times, 'What are you doing?'" she says. "I said, 'You help people you don't even know, and no one will help you in return.' And that's exactly what happened."
In addition to the six Russians from Lasnamae, two men from Latvia signed up for the work he offered. Several of the men posted notices on a popular social-networking site saying they'd be away for several months. They told their families they'd be gone until early October.


earlier 1 earlier 2 earlier 3

Arctic Sea: unsold missiles, bargain rates

The recent cancellation of a billion dollars worth of Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran has left the manufacturer with lots of unsold gear. So now Russia is hustling to find new customers, offering attractive prices.
more
earlier
2009

Arctic Sea: Russia used criminals - wikileaks

In the cable's most revealing section José "Pepe" Grinda Gonzalez, Spain's national court prosecutor referred to the case of the Arctic Sea ship as an example of arms trafficking. Russia maintains pirates seized the vessel in July 2009 off the coast of Sweden, diverting it to Africa and the Cape Verde islands. It has consistently denied there were any weapons on board.

Although Gonzalez does not elaborate, his remarks suggest he believes the ship was used by organised criminals to smuggle arms under secret orders from Russia's intelligence agencies. There has been speculation the ship was carrying S-300 missiles destined for Iran. read

Arctic Sea: Patsy now a Lithuanian gets 3 years

Sergei gets penal colony
Eerik gets medal



Sergei Demchenko, Lithuanian national formerly called 'German-based businesman' by prosecutors, has been sentenced to three years in a penal colony by a Moscow court.

The 37-year-old struck a deal with the prosecution, fully admitted his guilt, and assisted in the investigation into the attack on the ‘Arctic Sea’ in the North Atlantic last year,
Latvian citizen Dmitry Savins confessed earlier this year, he was the second crew member to do so after Andrei Lunev pleaded guilty to hijacking and was sentenced to five years.

As part of a plea bargain Savins testified against the alleged mastermind behind the attack, Eerik-Niiles Kross, the former head of Estonia’s foreign intelligence service.
Latvian prosecutors said there was no evidence linking Kross to the Arctic Sea seizure. Eerik-Niiles Kross, who served as the director of Security Coordination Office in the Estonian State Chancellery, which is connected to the Ministry of Defense Information Service (Riigi Teabeamet), from 1995 to 2000.

In 2009, a deal was allegedly struck between Russian and Middle Eastern businessmen,to evade the' technical' delays of the S-300 missile delivery. Some sources claim the Russian military's weapons industry was implicated in the deal and transferred a number of new missiles to Kaliningrad. However the Kremlin was uninvolved, and apparently the deal was carried out in secret between businessmen from the private sector. After the deal was executed, an intelligence agency learned of the ship's departure with the weapons towards Algeria, a country located on a regularly used route for the transfer of weapons to Iran and Syria. The Arctic Sea docked in Kaliningrad in June to undergo various repairs.
On July 24,2009, the Arctic Sea, manned by a Russian crew and carrying a cargo of what was declared to consist solely of timber, was allegedly boarded by hijackers off the coast of Sweden. The story goes that the hijacking of the 'Arctic Sea' was ordered by the Moscow government.after discussions with other countries to prevent the delivery of the missiles to Iran. here more



"Allegedly they did not know the extent of the Estonia documents that Wikileaks acquired."

Eerik-Niiles Kross - a former high-level security analyst who advised the Georgian government - believes the Wikileaks revelations could endanger US relations with its allies. "Last time, Wikileaks revealed military information about Afghanistan, which in some sense was a direct threat to many lives. This time, they will reveal insider diplomatic information, which will not necessarily endager anybody, but it definitely threatens relations between the US and its allies," said Kross. "It's unfortunate that it happened because it endangers honest dialogue in the future within inner circles and with allies because everyone fears that it might somehow reach the newspapers."

Nevertheless, Kross believes the documents will reveal nothing scandalous about Estonia. "It is possible that there are judgements about the profile of some Estonian politician or diplomat, but those are only the personal matters of a few. There is nothing there that would harm bilateral relations." here

Arctic Sea: Canceled Iran S-300 for drones?

Russia offered Israel $1 billion for advanced drone (automatic aircraft) technologies, and in addition offered to cancel the deal to supply Iran with S-300 missiles, according to an official cable published November 28 via WikiLeaks.
The cable was sent by US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher after meeting Director of Policy and Political-Military Affairs at the Defense Ministry Amos Gilad. The cable was sent one year before the Kremlin announced it would cancel its deal to supply Iran with the missiles.

Arctic Sea: S-300 down payment refunded Iran

Russia announced October 7 that it will refund Iran the down-payment it paid for the S-300 air defense system. "We should return them all the funds," Russian Technologies chief Sergei Chemezov

Arctic Sea: Iran insists on S-300 missiles

Top Iranian officials have criticized Moscow's yes-vote on the new round of sanctions against Iran as well as its about-face on the contract that Kremlin blames on the resolution.
However, the Islamic Republic says the S-300 system is a stop-gap measure and it has plans to develop its own long range anti-aircraft missiles.

Arctic Sea: sale of S-300 to Iran banned by Russia

The Kremlin has formally banned the sale of S-300 air defence missile systems to Iran three months after new UN sanctions.

A decree was issued by President Dmitry Medvedev prohibiting the sale, which had been in the pipeline for years.

Earlier, Gen Nikolai Makarov, head of Russia's general staff, confirmed that the missiles were "definitely" subject to the sanctions introduced in June. more earlier

Arctic Sea: Iran to build S-300 clones?

Commenting on Moscow’s failure to honor its commitment to deliver the S300 missile air defense system to Iran, Brigadier General Mohammad-Hassan Mansourian said, ""We purchased the system for our operational needs, but they haven't delivered it to us.""

Local industries are trying to replace the S300 system with similar home-made missiles to meet domestic air defense requirements, he explained

Arctic Sea: Aladdin's wish

08-21-2010 Parliamentarian Alaeddin Boroujerdi "Russia’s measure (loading fuel into Bushehr nuclear plant) ensured Iranian nation that it abides by its commitments and public opinion in Iran expect that Russia implement its obligations on S-300 missile system as well.” more

Arctic Sea: Is this the end of Rico?”

In July 2010, after some hesitation, Moscow announced that the S-300 deal is forbidden by the new UN sanctions.
In December 2005, Russia agreed to sell Iran long-range S-300 anti-aircraft missiles - 40 to 60 launchers with four missile tubes each, radars, and control stations, worth some $1bn (£650m). Together with the shorter-range Tor M1 and the older super-long-range S-200 already provided by Russia, Iran could build a solid anti-aircraft shield able to defend its nuclear facilities against a possible US or Israeli assault, and inflict serious damage to the attacking force.Without the S-300, the Iranians do not have a balanced air defence. Moscow has been withholding the delivery of the S-300 to Iran since 2008, while officials maintained the delays were "technical"..
Iranian officials reacted angrily. Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi demanded that Russia must pay for the damage it has caused by failing to deliver the S-3

In 2009, a deal was allegedly struck between Russian and Middle Eastern businessmen,to evade the' technical' delays of the S-300 missile delivery. Some sources claim the Russian military's weapons industry was implicated in the deal and transferred a number of new missiles to Kaliningrad. However the Kremlin was uninvolved, and apparently the deal was carried out in secret between businessmen from the private sector. After the deal was executed, an intelligence agency learned of the ship's departure with the weapons towards Algeria, a country located on a regularly used route for the transfer of weapons to Iran and Syria. The Arctic Sea docked in Kaliningrad in June to undergo various repairs.
On July 24,2009, the Arctic Sea, manned by a Russian crew and carrying a cargo of what was declared to consist solely of timber, was allegedly boarded by hijackers off the coast of Sweden. The story goes that the hijacking of the 'Arctic Sea' was ordered by the Moscow government.after discussions with other countries to prevent the delivery of the missiles to Iran.

Arctic Sea: missiles for Bushehr nuclear station?

Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport signed an agreement with the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry on the supply of two batteries of S-300 anti-aircraft systems, the Vedomosti daily reported, citing Russian arms industry sources. here Russia's governmental arms export agency's most popular is the S-300 anti-aircraft system. Russian organizations have made efforts to export S-300 system to potential clients such Iran, reportedly to defend the Bushehr nuclear station being completed by Russian specialists. earlier more

Iran sanctions: shipment of s-300 missiles frozen

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday, said that Russia had decided to "freeze the delivery of the S-300 missiles."

Putin also said supporting the Iran sanctions was a decision that "wasn't exactly easy," according to the presidential aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with Sarkozy's office policy.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will issue a decree specifying which types of weapons cannot now be sold to Iran, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in Moscow.

Russia in the past has sold other air-defense missiles, aircraft and other weapons to Iran. here

Moscow University: pirates all killed - Voitenko

A suspicion the pirates have all been killed Voitenko









An unnamed high-level Russian Defense Ministry official says the pirates who boarded the tanker Moscow University never made it to shore and were likely dead.

The official said the suspects were stripped of their weapons and navigation equipment and, about 300 nautical miles (550 kilometers) from shore, were put into one of the speed boats they used in the hijacking.

Pirate Gets 5 Years in Arctic Sea Case
10 May 2010 An Estonian-born man was convicted of piracy and handed a five-year sentence by the Moscow City Court over the purported highjacking of the Russian-crewed Arctic Sea freighter last summer.

MOSCOW, May 5 (Itar-Tass) - The Investigation Committee under the Prosecutor General's Office (SKP) opened a criminal case over piracy on Wednesday, after pirates captured the "Moscow University" tanker with a Russian crew off the Gulf of Aden.

The SKP's main department opened a criminal case over "piracy committed with use of violence and weapons by an organized group. The penalty for this offense envisions up to 15 years in jail," SKP spokesman Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass.

It is the second time Russia opens criminal proceedings over piracy. The first such probe was conducted over the capture of the Arctic Sea vessel. The probe is nearing completion at present.

The Arctic Sea bulk carrier with a crew of 15 sailors from the Russian town of Arkhangelsk, was captured on July 24, 2009. It had a load of timber, and headed for Algeria from Finland. The vessel was captured in Sweden's territorial waters.

On August 17, the Ladny coastguard vessel of the Russian Black Sea Fleet freed the crew off Cape Verde Islands. Eight captors - citizens of Russia, Estonia and Latvia - were arrested and charged with piracy. They are in custody awaiting trial.

May 6, The pirates seized by a Russian warship off the coast of Somalia have been released because of ''imperfections'' in international law, the Defense Ministry said Friday, it was unclear how the seizure of the tanker might be legally different from last year's alleged hijacking of the Russian-crewed freighter Arctic Sea. That vessel allegedly was seized by pirates in the Baltic Sea off Sweden and went missing for several days before a Russian warship tracked it down off West Africa. The eight alleged pirates were flown to Moscow to face eventual trial. . The Arctic Sea, was suspected last year of transporting Russian missiles destined for Iran. Moscow has said it plans to fulfill a contract to supply the S-300 AA missile to Iran.

A Defense Ministry source told RIA Novosti that they were sent off in a small inflatable boat, having been disarmed and stripped of navigational equipment.

May 7 “A decision was made to let them go on a small vessel they used for attacking the tanker,” he RF Defence Ministry’s press service told Itar-Tass on Friday.
... The life of an inmate in a Russian prison camp is more comfortable than life in Somalia, in addition to which they are eligible for parole,