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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Russia says it has arrested eight people suspected of the mysterious hijacking1 of a cargo2 ship. The vessel3 disappeared after being boarded by hijackers off the coast of Sweden and then turned up off the coast of West Africa. There are still a number of questions about the incident.
Undated file photo released 12 Aug 2009 by Maritime4 Bulletin Sovfracht shows the Arctic Sea cargo ship at an unknown location
Russian news agencies Tuesday quoted Defense5 Minister Anatoly Serdyukov as telling President Dmitri Medvedev that the eight people arrested in connection with the hijacking of the cargo ship Arctic Sea include citizens of Russia, Estonia and Latvia.
Serdyukov also told the Russian president that the hijacking took place in Swedish territorial6 waters on July 24. The Maltese-registered cargo ship had left a port in Finland two days earlier and was carrying a shipment of timber bound for Algeria.
The Russian defense minister said four Estonians, two Latvians and two Russians had approached the cargo ship in a high-speed inflatable boat which they claimed was in trouble, and then boarded it, brandished7 arms and told its crew to follow their orders.
According to Serdyukov, the hijacked8 cargo ship then headed toward Africa with its navigation equipment turned off.
Earlier reports said the raiders had tied up the crew and searched the vessel but left it after 12 hours.
Serdyukov said Monday that the ship and its crew had been found off the coast of Cape9 Verde and that its 15 crew members, all of them from Russia, were alive and had been transferred to a Russian naval10 vessel.
There has been much speculation11 about why the Arctic Sea, which was reportedly transporting a load of timber worth less than $2 million, was hijacked.
Some observers, including Russian political analyst12 Yulia Latynina, say that many elements surrounding the ship's disappearance13, including initial speculation that it had been seized by pirates, do not add up.
Latynina says she believes the incident was neither a pirate attack nor involved ordinary cargo, but rather involved some kind of "highly illegal cargo." She says the cargo was possibly nuclear components14 or, more likely, weapons being sold to a Middle Eastern country.
Latynina says she thinks there was a disagreement between the various people involved, and does not rule out the involvement of "special services."
Police in Finland confirmed that a $1.5 million ransom15 demand for the ship's return had been issued. But Finnish authorities denied rumors16 in the press that the ship was carrying a secret cargo of nuclear material.
1 hijacking | |
n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式 | |
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2 cargo | |
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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3 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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4 maritime | |
adj.海的,海事的,航海的,近海的,沿海的 | |
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5 defense | |
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩 | |
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6 territorial | |
adj.领土的,领地的 | |
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7 brandished | |
v.挥舞( brandish的过去式和过去分词 );炫耀 | |
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8 hijacked | |
劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 ); 绑架; 拦路抢劫; 操纵(会议等,以推销自己的意图) | |
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9 cape | |
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风 | |
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10 naval | |
adj.海军的,军舰的,船的 | |
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11 speculation | |
n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机 | |
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12 analyst | |
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家 | |
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13 disappearance | |
n.消失,消散,失踪 | |
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14 components | |
(机器、设备等的)构成要素,零件,成分; 成分( component的名词复数 ); [物理化学]组分; [数学]分量; (混合物的)组成部分 | |
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15 ransom | |
n.赎金,赎身;v.赎回,解救 | |
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16 rumors | |
n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷 | |
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