Arctic Sea, the cargo ship at the centre of an international piracy mystery, is free of radioactive materials and has been cleared to enter Malta's main harbour, Maltese authorities said Thursday.
"We gave them the go-ahead to enter the Grand Harbour" of the capital Valletta, a Maltese army spokesman told AFP after an inspection lasting several hours some 14 nautical miles off the coast of the tiny Mediterranean nation.
The inspectors from Malta's Civil Protection Department found no radioactive materials or toxic chemicals, he said, adding that the vessel was expected to dock in the harbour Thursday evening.
The spokesman would not confirm a statement issued in Moscow that the ship had been released to Maltese authorities.
"Today the handover of the Arctic Sea ship to authorised representatives of the Republic of Malta, as the flag government, took place," the investigative committee of Russian prosecutors said in the statement.
"The ship will arrive in a Maltese port shortly," the committee said.
The Arctic Sea -- which was allegedly seized by pirates in July in a bizarre incident that sparked speculation about a secret cargo -- has been in limbo since being recaptured by Russian warships in August.
Russian officials had initially said it would be taken to the Russian port of Novorossiisk, then the Spanish port of Las Palmas, but the ship remained at sea amid disagreements among the various governments involved and its owners.
The Ladny, a Russian navy vessel that has been accompanying the Arctic Sea, has headed back to its home port, it said.
"The Russian navy's mission has been completed," a Russian defence ministry spokesman was quoted by the Interfax agency as saying.
The Maltese-flagged, Russian-crewed vessel was near the coast of Sweden in one of Europe's busiest shipping lanes when, according to investigators, it was hijacked by a band of pirates posing as police.
Officially the ship was carrying a load of timber from Finland to Algeria, but the boldness of the hijacking and the elaborate effort to recapture it prompted speculation that it may have held a secret cargo.
Russia has denied reports that it was carrying weapons to Iran and said nothing but timber was found on board when it was recaptured.
Some media reports claimed the ship had a cargo of sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles on board.
Eight suspects -- including Russians, Estonians and Latvians -- have been accused of hijacking the Arctic Sea and are now awaiting trial in Moscow on charges of piracy and kidnapping. They have maintained their innocence.
