The Norwegian owner of the fishing trawler Remøy has called its arrest in Murmansk and the subsequent idling of its crew “surreal,” and they refuse to pay around EUR 9 million for its release. The vessel was still stuck in the Northern Russian port city this week after it was seized on May 11.
Russian authorities claim the Remøy was illegally trawling for shimp in Russian waters. A clerical error on the part of Norwegian authorities left shrimp off its catch list, while the Russians claim it hauled in nearly 400 tons of shrimp during its stay in the Russian economic zone.
The Independent Barents Observer reported that the Russians’ stated fine could have been worse. Meanwhile the vessel and its 17 Norwegian crew members on aboard remain involuntarily stuck in Murmansk, pending a diplomatic resolution involving the foreign ministry.
newsinenglish.no staff