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Dakar port authorities find no violations at seized Russian trawler

MURMANSK, January 07, /ITAR-TASS/. An inspection of port authorities has found no violations at Russia’s Oleg Naidenov fishing trawler, which has been under arrest at the Dakar military port since Sunday, Yuri Parshev, executive director of Fenix, a company owning the trawler, told Itar-Tass.

“The inspectors checked the observance of safety rules, various conventions, etc.,” he said. “No violations have been exposed.”

The inspection report however was not handed over to the crew, Parshev said, adding that the inspectors had said it was not necessary, since no violations had been found.

Earlier, Parshev said that the ship had been inspected by a commission from Senegal’s ministry of fishing and maritime affairs. The inspectors checked the ship’s log books, permits and other documents and found no violations either. “The Senegalese authorities have produced no official claims to the ship owner, neither have they offered any explanations,” he said.

Later on Tuesday, a Russian delegation is to meet with the Senegalese president to address the situation around the Russian trawler.

The Oleg Naidenov suspected of illegal fishing within Senegalese waters was seized by the Senegalese military 46 miles of Guinea-Bissau on Saturday with 82 crew onboard, including 62 Russians and 20 citizens of Guinea-Bissau, and convoyed to the port of Dakar on Sunday.

The Oleg Naidenov is owned by private company Fenix, registered in Murmansk, the extreme northwest part of Russia. It is a big fishing boat of Moonzund type, 120 meters long, built in Germany in 1989.