MOSCOW, January 13. /ITAR-TASS/. The Norwegian side is taking the case of detained Russian trawler, the Novoazovsk, to court for further investigation, Alexander Savelyev, the head of the public relations center of the Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries, told Itar-Tass on Monday.
Norwegian coast guards detained the Russian trawler earlier on Monday for violation of fishing rules in the Norwegian economic zone.
According to Savelyev, Russian ship owners would normally win their cases linked to detention of their fishing vessels by Norwegian coast guards for violation of fishing regulations.
The Arkhangelsk Trawler Fleet which owns the ship is studying the situation. “So far we are refraining from any comments because we are analyzing the incoming reports,” the fleet’s general director, Yuri Nikulin, told Itar-Tass.
The Norwegian Nordkapp patrol boat detained the Novoazovsk in the Norwegian Sea. The Norwegian side claims that the Novoazovsk threw dead or dying fish overboard. However, the Novoazovsk’s captain, Vasily Pashchenko, has said that the ship was arrested because of a minor technical incident: some fish was simply washed away after the safety cage of a drain hole used for dumping water from the deck into the sea had broken, the Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries reports.
The Novoazovsk trawler was expected to arrive at the Norwegian port of Troms at 22:00 Moscow time on January 13, 2014. At the moment, the ship is being escorted to the port of destination for further investigation. The vessel is undamaged and the crew feels well, the Federal Agency for Fisheries went on to say.
A mid-sized Novoazovsk trawler freezer belongs to the Arkhangelsk Trawler Fleet joint-stock company and is registered at Murmansk port. The crew has 45 members. The ship has food stocks to last for 30 days.
Russia caught 40,400 tonnes of fish or 35% of the allowed quota in Norway’s exclusive economic zone in 2013.