Authorities in the Cape Verde capital Praia said a Russian anti-submarine naval ship with the Arctic Sea crew onboard was heading for the island of Sal where a Russian plane was standing by to fly the group to Russia.

But in Russia itself, officials offered no further information on a range of questions surrounding the Arctic Sea intrigue, including on the whereabouts of the vessel itself, despite promises more information would be forthcoming.

In his announcement Monday that the 3,988-tonne Russian-owned ship and crew had been found, Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov told President Dmitry Medvedev that details would be given "in the coming few hours."

"I think that we will be able to recount more details by the end of the day," Serdyukov told Medvedev during a meeting that was broadcast on Russian state television.

That was late afternoon Monday, Moscow time, already more than 16 hours, according to Serdyukov, after the Arctic Sea was located 300 miles (483 kilometres) from the Cape Verde archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean.

Serdyukov said he expected a debriefing of the crew aboard the submarine hunter Ladny to yield more information about the cargo ship, specifically "what happened to it, why communications with it were lost, why it changed course."

In response to Serdyukov's comments, Medvedev said: "Explain it, report to me and inform the media."

The Arctic Sea saga captured international attention soon after the Maltese-flagged ship left Finland on July 23 on its way to Algeria with a crew of 15 and a cargo of sawn timber estimated to be worth 1.16 million euros.

All contact with the ship however was lost shortly thereafter amid reports of multiple pirate hijackings, a zig-zagging itinerary and speculation that the vessel was carrying a secret, illicit cargo.

In an apparent effort to dispel the intrigue surrounding the ship's fate, Medvedev called for a full investigation of the Arctic Sea mystery and vowed that "all interested parties" would be informed on the results.

In a report on the finding of the vessel however, the liberal Russian daily Kommersant ran a sub-headline reading: "Interested Parties Have Agreed to Keep Silent About the Circumstances of the Ship Hijacking."

"Circumstances of the disappearance and the subsequent discovery of the cargo ship, along with information about what went on aboard the ship all this time, was not divulged yesterday by the interested parties," the paper noted.

Finnish authorities on Sunday dismissed reports that the Arctic Sea was bearing a cargo of nuclear material, saying the vessel underwent radiation tests in Finland before leaving port.

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