YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, June 10. / TASS /. A Japanese fishing boat Eihou maru 172 detained in the waters near Sakhalin in Russia’s Far East with crab products onboard, paid a six mln ruble ($83,000) fine, and traveled back home, the Federal Security Service’s regional border department reported on Thursday.
"The fine [of six mln rubles ($83,000)] was paid by the Japanese side in full, the administrative arrest from the Japanese Eihou maru 172 ship was lifted. The fishing schooner was expelled from Russia, accompanied by a coast guard ship of the country’s Federal Security Service’s border department in the Sakhalin Region," the press service stated.
According to the department, the guilt of the Japanese vessel’s captain has been fully proven. He and the shipowner were brought to administrative responsibility, being fined under Part 2 of Articles 8.17 and 18.6 of the Administrative Code (violations of the requirements regulating activities in Russia’s exclusive economic zone). Furthermore, the captain was held administratively liable under Part 2 of Article 19.4 for not complying with the Sakhalin border guards’ requirements to stop the ship.
On May 28, the Russian border guards detained a Japanese fishing schooner near Sakhalin. The vessel was trying to escape while dangerously maneuvering on the water and posing a collision threat with a border patrol ship. Later, during the inspection, the guards found onboard live crabs, crab products, and fishing equipment. The Japanese vessel was detained and taken to the Sakhalin port of Korsakov for further investigation.