MOSCOW, August 12 (RIA Novosti) - President...

Russia"s Defense Ministry said later on Wednesday that it had dispatched Black Sea Fleet vessels now on a mission in the Atlantic to hunt for the cargo ship, and all search-and-rescue means, including satellite reconnaissance, have been deployed.

One of the navy vessels, the Ladny frigate, has passed the Straits of Gibraltar and is on its way to where the Arctic Sea is believed to have been last sited.

Portugal was reported to be carrying out its own search.