Moscow/Helsinki - The crew of the missing freighter Arctic Sea are alive and free, Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said Monday, in news welcomed by the ship's owner in Finland.

He was quoted by Interfax news agency as telling the Kremlin that the vessel had been located during the night some 300 sea miles off the Cape Verde islands off the West African coast.

The 15 Russian crew had been transferred to a Russian coastal protection vessel of the Black Sea fleet, the Ladny, and were being questioned.

There was no immediate indication as to why the vessel initially went off course, and whether at the end, any ransom had been paid in gaining the crew's release.

Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, spoke of a "brilliant" action in rescuing the crew: "The situation was serious."

But the action showed that Russia had again demonstrated that it could provide protection to each of its citizens, no matter where they were. He also expressly thanked NATO for its help and said it showed that it showed that Russia could cooperate with other major world powers.

The freighter left Finland on July 23, transporting lumber worth some 1.3 million euros (1.8 million dollars) en route for Algeria.

The fate of the Arctic Sea remained a mystery since July 24 when a group of some 10 armed men allegedly posing as drugs enforcement officers boarded the vessel in Swedish waters.

Radio contact with the vessel had been reported with the British coast guard on July 28 as the Arctic Sea was passing through the English Channel.

The ship then disappeared under mysterious circumstances and had been the object ever since of an international hunt involving among others the Finnish owners, authorities in Malta - where the vessel is registered - and Sweden.

In Stockholm, a spokeswoman for Swedish police, Linda Widmark, told the German Press Agency dpa that the last known contact by police with the Arctic Sea crew was on July 31.

She said that some of the crew members had told of being beaten up by the hijackers and some crew members managed to send photos via e- mail to the ship owners in Helsinki, who forwarded them to the Swedish police.

In the search for the vessel, authorities of some 20 countries - including Russia from where the 15-strong crew hailed - were involved and communicating via various channels including Interpol and Europol.

Recent reports - including one Sunday quoting a French naval spokesman - had indicated the vessel had been tracked near the Cap Verde islands.

Meanwhile in Helsinki, the owner of the Artic Sea hailed the news that the 15-strong crew were safe.

"We are happy that the crew is safe, and all alive, all 15 crew members," Victor Matveev, Director of Solchart Management, told dpa.

"That is the biggest news for me," Matveev said, adding that he could state this "definitely" since "this information was not from the media but from reliable sources" but declined to say who had informed him or when he been told of their release.

"The main issue is the crew, they are OK that is really great news for me," he added before ending the brief telephone conversation.

Finnish police over the weekend said demands for ransom had been made for the missing freighter, and were investigating suspicions of "aggravated extortion."(dpa)