ASTRAKHAN, Russia, (Reuters) – The Russian navy found  a missing cargo ship yesterday in the Atlantic Ocean near the  Cape Verde islands, raising the prospect of solving a mystery  that has baffled maritime authorities for weeks.

The Arctic Sea and its 15-man Russian crew went missing in  European waters two weeks ago, sparking speculation of foul play  or even a secret cargo targeted by pirates or spies.

Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov told President  Dmitry Medvedev that the 4,000-tonne ship had been found off  Cape Verde, and that the crew were safe and had been taken  aboard a navy anti-submarine ship.

He gave no details of how the vessel had been found or why  it had disappeared, but promised to say more later.

“Today at 1 a.m. Moscow time, the ship was found 300 miles  off the Cape Verde islands,” Serdyukov told Medvedev during a  presidential visit to the southern Russian city of Astrakhan.