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Russia ordered to free Japan boat
An international tribunal has ordered Russia to release a Japanese fishing vessel seized off Russia's Kamchatka peninsula two months ago. The ruling, by the Law of the Sea tribunal, based in Germany, came in response to a complaint by Japan. The Russians alleged that the boat had exceeded its allowed catch. The tribunal ordered the Japanese side to pay a bond equivalent to about $400,000 (£197,000) to secure the vessel's release. That is less than half the sum demanded by Moscow. Sergey Ganzha, Russia's consul general in Hamburg, where the court is located, said Russia accepted the ruling but believed the bond should have been higher. A Japanese official said Tokyo was "basically satisfied" with the tribunal's ruling. The Hoshin Maru 88 and its crew of 17 was captured at the beginning of June. The court said the complaint by Russia that the Hoshin Maru had illegally declared 20 tonnes of raw sockeye salmon as cheaper salmon "should not be considered as a minor offence or as an offence of a purely technical nature". Russia and Japan have had frequent disputes over fishing rights, with Russian coast guard ships often moving in on Japanese trawlers. Posted by: lotp 2007-08-07 |
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