President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the Russian navy to join the hunt for a cargo ship which disappeared after passing through the English Channel.

Warships and nuclear submarines have have been told to “take all necessary measures to find and free” the ship and its 15-man Russian crew amid fears that it has been seized by pirates.

The mystery surrounding the Arctic Sea has deepened after further details emerged of the “missing” four days following a reported raid on the ship by armed men off the Swedish coast.

There was speculation that the ship had been seized by the Russian Mafia as part of a dispute over arms or weapons smuggling.

The ship, carrying a cargo of timber, made a routine call to Dover coastguard on July 28 saying it was preparing to enter the Channel’s busy shipping lanes.

Its location beacon appeared to show the 3,988-tonne ship sailing along the English south coast before the signal was lost about 50 miles off Penzance on July 30. It was due to dock in Algeria on August 3.

Swedish police said yesterday that they had been in telephone contact with the crew on July 31, but refused to give any details.

Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian navy, told the state news agency Itar-Tass: “Under the orders of President Dmitry Medvedev all Russian naval ships in the Atlantic have been sent to join the search for the Arctic Sea.”

Russia’s radar systems and satellites are also also searching for the ship amid unconfirmed reports that it was heading towards Africa.

A Defence Ministry spokesman told the RIA Novosti agency: “The main task lies with the patrol combatant vessel Ladnyy of the Black Sea Fleet, which passed through the Strait of Gibraltar on 12 August and is following the set course.”

The large amphibious warships Azov, Yamal and Novocherkassk were also reported to have entered the Atlantic through the Strait of Gibraltar, suggesting that ships on a pre-arranged military exercise have now received a signal from Moscow to join the hunt for the Arctic Sea.

The cargo ship was loaded with £1.13million of timber at the Finnish port of Jacobstad on July 23. The following day the ship was allegedly boarded by a group of armed men claiming to be Swedish police searching for drugs in the Baltic Sea.

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