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The Russian coast guard ship Ladny is leading the search effort, which also involves navy ships located in the Atlantic, the Defense Ministry said on its Web site today. The missing ship, the Arctic Sea, has a crew of 15 Russian sailors.

The Arctic Sea was attacked in Swedish territorial waters on July 24. The crew was tied up and assaulted while masked pirates searched the cargo vessel. It was boarded between the Swedish islands of Oeland and Gotland in the Baltic Sea by the group who identified themselves as police officers, Swedish police said on July 31.

The freighter, operated by Helsinki-based Oy Solchart Management AB, was scheduled to deliver a cargo of timber to Bejaia, Algeria on Aug. 4, the Sovfracht maritime news service reported last week.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday ordered Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov to take “all necessary steps” to find the ship and, if necessary, to free its crew, according to the Kremlin Web site.

The Arctic Sea may have been hijacked by pirates off the Swedish coast, RIA Novosti reported, citing Viktor Matveyev, Solchart’s managing director.

‘Anything’s Possible’

Matveyev said “in this situation anything’s possible,” even a hijacking off Sweden, the state-run Russian news service reported. Matveyev said “it’s still hard to believe that this could happen in Swedish territorial waters,” RIA reported.

Solchart has lost contact with the ship and has no information about its whereabouts, RIA said.

The Malta Maritime Authority’s security committee, which has been meeting on a daily basis since the first report of the Arctic Sea’s disappearance, has “no communication” with the ship.