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Captain of detained Russian trawler in need of medical aid

MURMANSK, January 05, 12:33 /ITAR-TASS/. At least two people on board the Russian trawler Oleg Naydenov detained by Senegalese military were injured, the executive director of the company owning the ship told Tass on Sunday.

Yuri Parshev from Feniks said a barmaid had a suspected arm fracture, and ship’s captain Vadim Mantorov also needed medical assistance.

“Senegalese military used force. The captain has bruises from handcuffs, maybe falling of kidney, and the ship’s doctor administered him injections,” Parshev said.

He also said it was possible to keep in touch with the ship although Senegalese military had tried to restrict communication. So the seamen could contact their relatives while the captain could report to the ship owner on the situation, he said.

On Sunday morning the trawler was docked at a military berth in the Senegalese port of Dakar. The military convoying it have left the ship, which is now guarded by coastal police. Passports have been seized from the crew, both from the nationals of Russia and Guinea Bissau. According to Parshev, the Senegalese authorities have not voiced any official claims by the moment.

Earlier, a Senegalese army representative said the crew had been poaching off Senegal not far from the border with Guinea Bissau. According to the ship owner, the ship was in the economic zone of Guinea Bissau and all necessary fishing permits were on board.

There are 82 persons aboard the ship - 62 Russians and 20 citizens of Guinea Bissau. The trawler was procuring fish off that African country under an inter-governmental agreement, which requires Russian sailors to take locals aboard for training and work.

The trawler belongs to the closed joint stock company Feniks registered in Murmansk, northern Russia. The ship was stopped 46 miles off Guinea Bissau on Saturday, after which four army officers from the Senegalese warship Ferlo boarded it and ordered the captain to follow them to their vessel. The captain refused to obey.

The Oleg Naydenov is a large factory trawler, 120 metres long. It was built in Germany in 1989 and received its current name in 2005 in honour of Murmansk’s first mayor.