HAVE YOU SEEN THIS SHIP?

If you have you might wanna call the Coast Guard and then ever so quickly head south.

The Arctic Sea is a Russian ship flying under Maltese colors, working out of a Finnish base. It was boarded in Swedish waters by unknown individuals who kept it hostage for 12 hours, and last reported a position off the coast of Portugal. It has since disappeared and no EPIRB signal has been received (EPIRBs automatically deploy when ships sink). The Russian Navy has joined the search for it, all of which makes this story curiouser and curiouser, as Alice said.

Personally, the idea of a big freighter cruising the Atlantic with who knows what on board (ostensibly lumber, but no one knows who boarded it with what) brings all kinds of bassline, drum beat, a la Jaws warnings to this writer's oft overactive brain.

So if you see the ship headed your way ...well ... see if you can get far enough away in time.

UPDATE, 03 September 09: Go HERE . This is a weird story that keeps getting weirder. Hopefully, what's left of our CIA is on top of ... Oh. Maybe they are no longer allowed to spy. Anyway ... good stuff.