MOSCOW: Pirates have probably hijacked a merchant ship, which disappeared after sailing through the English Channel last month, its operator said yesterday.

The Kremlin has ordered Russian warships to join the hunt for the 4,000-ton, 98-meter bulk carrier Arctic Sea, whose mysterious fate has baffled maritime authorities.

The Maltese-registered vessel, carrying a cargo of timber worth $1.3 million, was supposed to have docked on August 4 in the Algerian port of Bejaia. It never arrived, raising fears of a rare case of piracy in northern European seas.