Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) says that a claim made Tuesday evening by the Malta Maritime Authority that the Arctic Sea was never entirely missing, is not completely accurate. The NBI says that reports of the Maltese claim are based on the unclear wording of a press release by the Malta Maratime Authority and that the location of Arctic Sea was not known at all times.
The information available to YLE is that Russian, Swedish, Maltese and Finnish officials closely monitored the movements of the vessel when located and the Russian Navy implemented the rescue operation.
Planning of the rescue operation took time, which explains why the vessel was stopped and boarded only after a period of several weeks.
On Tuesday, Finland presented a formal request to Russian authorities for cooperation in the investigation into the incident, including a request to question the hijackers. It is expected that Russia will decide within the next few days if Finnish police will be allowed to interview the suspects.