The Russian Foreign ministry has demanded explanations from Senegal over the detention of a Russian trawler, which remains at the port of Dakar. While a Senegalese inspection aboard the vessel, suspected of illegal fishing, failed to find any violations.
“Our diplomats together with the representatives of Rosrybolovstvo (Russia’s Federal Fisheries Agency) in Dakar are taking furthers steps to ensure the release of the vessel and its departure to sea,” a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The Russian delegation is scheduled to meet Senegal’s president,
Macky Sall, on Tuesday to discuss the release of the Oleg
Naydenov.
The Russian trawler was stopped by the Senegalese military 46
miles off the shore of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa on January 4.
The vessel was then escorted to the port Dakar, with the soldiers
using force against the captain and several crew members.
There are 62 Russians and 20 Guinea-Bissau citizens aboard the
Oleg Naydenov, which is owned by Feniks (Phoenix) company from
Russia’s northern city of Murmansk. It is a big fishing boat of
Moonzund type, 120 meters long, which was built in Germany in
1989.
Senegal’s fisheries minister, Haidar El-Ali, said the Russian
ship was stopped for repeatedly violating fishing regulations in
the country’s territorial waters.
According to the minister, the Oleg Naydenov may face a fine over
600,000 euros as well as seizure of fishing equipment and all its
catch.
However, the ship-owner’s CEO, Yury Parshev, said he was unaware
of the reasons for the trawler’s detention as the Feniks company
still hasn’t been officially contacted by the government of
Senegal.
Senegal’s Fisheries Ministry has conducted an inspection of the
Russian trawler, but failed to find any violations, Parshev told
ITAR-TASS news agency.
“During the inspection the Senegalese specialists checked the
vessel, all the documentation, ship logs, permits, cargo and
fishing gear. There were no comments made in their report, which
means no violations,” he stressed.
According to Parshev, the catch, which is estimated at
approximately 395,000 euros, remains in the refrigerated ship’s
holds.
Russian captain requires urgent medical help
The captain of the Russian trawler, Vadim Mantorov, says he’s
ready to come ashore for urgent medical attention, Prime news
agency reports.
He needs a kidney ultrasound and the military doctor, provided by
the Senegalese, doesn’t have the necessary equipment with him,
the captain told journalists during a radio-communication
session.
Previously, Mantorov refused to leave his ship, even when the
Senegalese military tried to use physical force.
The violence during the detention of the Oleg Naydenov resulted
in the captain being bruised and the ship’s barmaid receiving a
fractured arm.
According to Parshev, a local clinic was ready to accept the
Russian captain on Tuesday, but he could not leave the ship as
his passport, which was confiscated by the Senegalese military,
still hasn’t been returned.
Greenpeace trace?
Rosrybolovstvo representative in Western Africa, Aleksandr
Biryukov, expressed hope that the Oleg Naydenov will be released
after the Russian delegation’s meeting with Senegalese president
on Tuesday – and that the incident won’t affect relations between
Moscow and Dakar.
“The wave of tension has subsided, now efforts are being taken to
find a solution to the problem at the negotiating table,”
Biryukov is sited as saying by ITAR-TASS news agency.
“Senegal’s president hopes to expand cooperation with Russia
and expects to restore the level of economic and political
relations the two countries had during the Soviet era,” he
added.
The order to seize the Russian trawler didn’t come from the
President, but from the country’s fisheries minister, Haidar
El-Ali, who also has such authority, the Rosrybolovstvo
representative stressed.
El-Ali is a well-known ecologist, who heads Senegal’s Green
Party, he explained.
“The actions by Greenpeace are clearly traced here,”
Biryukov suggested.
Meanwhile, Greenpeace has criticized Senegal’s authorities over
the detention of the Oleg Naydenov.
“Even a violation of the law, if it ever took place,
shouldn’t lead to such a disproportionate use of force in
response,” the environment organization said in a statement,
forwarded to Interfax news agency.
Greenpeace expressed regret over the whole incident, saying that
it “feels for the crew of the ship.”
“We can only call for a peaceful dialogue and proper
treatment of the people. Any suspicions – whether it’s piracy or
illegal fishing – are no reason to violate somebody’s
rights,” the statement concluded.