MURMANSK, January 05, 13:40 /ITAR-TASS/. The owner of the Russian trawler Oleg Naydenov, detained by Senegalese military and moored in the Senegalese port of Dakar, had a routine control session with ship’s captain Vadim Mantorov on Sunday, the executive director of ship owner Feniks told Tass.

According to Vladimir Parshev, the crew is safe and sound apart from the captain and a barmaid injured by Senegalese military. 

“There are coastal guards and police at the ship so nobody can leave or get on board, but the ship has everything needed for normal living on board, including water, foodstuffs and medicines,” he said. Parshev noted that despite attempts by Senegalese military to restrict communication with the trawler, the ship owner had been regularly contacting the crew and was in the know of the developments. “If the captain was not always available, as he was handcuffed for a long time and was pegged up, it was always possible to contact somebody from the crew,” Parshev said.

Earlier on Sunday the ship owner said the ship had been moored 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 had 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, but the ship owner said it was not true.

The trawler belongs to the closed joint stock company Feniks registered in Murmansk, northern Russia. 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.