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Tribunal orders Russia to pay 5.4 mln euros to Netherlands on Arctic Sunrise case

According to the Tribunal, the compensation was "unanimously determined" and the sums shall be paid to the Netherlands with interest

THE HAGUE, July 18. /TASS/. The Tribunal, that was established with support of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Hague, has ordered Russia to pay almost 5.4 mln euros as compensation for the detention and arrest of a Greenpeace vessel, the Arctic Sunrise, in 2013, the Permanent Court of Arbitration said in a press release.

The Tribunal ordered 1.7 million euros to be paid to the Netherlands as compensation for damage to Arctic Sunrise and more than 3 mln euros as compensation for material and non-material damage to the 30 crew members (the Arctic 30). Besides, the judges ordered 625,000 euros as reimbursement of Russia’s share of the deposits paid by the Netherlands in the proceedings, and 13,500 euros as compensation for the costs incurred by the Netherlands for the issuance of a bank guarantee to Russia pursuant to the ITLOS Provisional Measures Order.

According to the Tribunal, the compensation was "unanimously determined" and the sums shall be paid to the Netherlands with interest.

The Tribunal issued the unanimous Award on the Merits in August 2015, in which it found that "Russia breached its obligations under the Convention by boarding, investigating, inspecting, arresting, detaining, and seizing the Arctic Sunrise, a vessel flying the Dutch flag, without the prior consent of the Netherlands, and by arresting, detaining, and initiating judicial proceedings against the thirty persons on board that vessel ("Arctic 30")."

The vessel, operated by Greenpeace International, approached Russia’s offshore oil platform - the Prirazlomnaya - on September 18, 2013. The Greenpeace activists onboard tried to land on the platform, but were stopped by border guards, after which the vessel was towed to Murmansk. The Arctic 30, including four Russians, were arrested. In late November 2013, the activists were released on bail and subsequently granted amnesty by decree of the Russian State Duma.

The arrest of the Arctic Sunrise was lifted on June 6, 2014. A new crew headed by Captain Daniel Rizzotti got access to the ship on June 27 after all bureaucratic procedures had been completed. The vessel returned to Amsterdam in August 2014.