Tension in Barents Sea

[Baloo]

Russian trawler flees inspection
A high-seas drama was playing out in the Arctic waters of the Barents on Monday, after a Russian trawler resisted a Norwegian Coast Guard arrest order and fled with two Norwegian inspectors on board. The captain of a Norwegian Coast Guard ship was considering firing on the trawler.

The Norwegian Coast Guard vessel KV Tromsø was considering firing on a Russian trawler accused of several fishing violations.

PHOTO: FORSVARET

The Russian trawler Elektron had been stopped and boarded by the Norwegian Coast Guard on Saturday morning, in the Barents Sea near the border of an area where fishing rights are disputed.

Two Norwegians from the Coast Guard vessel KV Tromsø, an officer and a crew member, were still on board when the Elektron refused to follow the Norwegian Coast Guard's orders to proceed to Tromsø.

Instead, the Elektron began sailing away with the Norwegian inspectors on board after they had uncovered several illegalities, including illegal use of nets and catching undersized fish.

The Norwegian Coast Guard had declared the Russian trawler formally under arrest, and the trawler initially accepted the arrest order, according to Steve Olsen, squadron chief for the Coast Guard's northern division /Kystvakt Nord.

Sudden change of course
The two vessels then started sailing for Tromsø, in northern Norway, but the trawler suddenly changed course on Sunday. The trawler's crew claims it had been told by Russian authorities not to follow the Norwegian orders.

The trawler's crew later altered their claim, saying the Russian government had ordered them to sail towards Russian waters.

The Norwegian Coast Guard vessel KV Tromsø trailed the trawler through the disputed zone and into the Russian economic zone of the Barents on Monday. The Norwegians are legally able to use force against the Russian ship in the zone, but the weather was so bad that the Coast Guard wouldn't be able to place more Norwegians on board the trawler.

That's why the Norwegians were considering firing on the trawler, to get it to stop. Then the KV Tromsø might use a helicopter to put crew of board.

Norwegian and Russian authorities in the two countries' respective foreign ministries, meanwhile, have been in contact since Saturday morning. A Norwegian military spokesman said there was no indication the two Norwegian inspectors on board the trawler were being badly treated.

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1136441.ece

Russian asks Norway for info on situation around Elektron trawler.

17.10.2005, 22.20

MOSCOW, October 17 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Foreign Ministry has asked Norwegian authorities to provide full information on the incident pertaining to the trawler Elektron, which Norwegian naval forces are pursuing in the Russian economic zone of the Barents Sea some 270 miles away from Murmansk.

"All the necessary measures to solve the problem will be taken within as short a period of time as possible after we get the needed information," a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said.

The Elektron's captain said in an urgent message to the Murmansk trawler fleet radio center Monday night the ship needed help. The message was received at around 19:00 hours Moscow time (15:00 hours GMT)

An hour after that, the crew of another Russian trawler that had arrived in the problem area found that the Elektron was encircled by four ships of the Norwegian coastal guard.

Norwegians arrested the Elektron in their economic zone Saturday for what was described as crude encroachment on fishery rules and the coastal guard escorted it to a port on Spitsbergen (Svalbard).

Two Norwegian inspectors came inspect the ship Monday, and the crew let them aboard. Shortly after that, however, the Elektron left the port and escaped into high seas, carrying the inspectors away.

Norwegian forces launched a pursuit and caught up with the trawler only after it had entered the Russian economic zone.

At 21:00 hours Moscow time (17:00 hours GMT), the Elektron's captain said in a telegram to the Murmansk Maritime Inspection, the Murmansk branch of the Russian Border Service, and the Federal Inspector for the Murmansk region the Norwegians had suspended the attempts to seize the ship but demanded that it heave.

This is the first such incident since the inception of relations between Russia and Norway.

http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=2528463&PageNum=0

 

[Baloo]

According to Norwegian news, there is now four vessels engaged in chasing the 'Elektron'. The possibility to fire upon the ship is still available, but the high seas appear to be unco-operative. ITAR-TASS and Russian news are apparently also claiming that the Norwegians have fired on the trawler within Russian waters, and that the Russian Northern Fleet has dispatched several ships, but again, the Norwegians have not commented. Can't find an English translation (I can't read Norwegian either, but I got the gist from someone who does) and so I didn't want to post a link. BBC and CBC or any other English based service hasn't carried this story. Doubtful at this point, unless things escalate further, that they will. It seems Moscow has had trouble with this particular trawler in the past, so co-operation seems more likely.

 

[Baloo]

Arctic drama heats up
The captain of a Russian trawler claimed Tuesday that the Norwegian Coast Guard had launched firebombs at his vessel. Two Norwegian inspectors are on board the trawler, which the Coast Guard is trying to arrest because of alleged fishing and environmental violations.

The Russian trawler Elektron was headed for Murmansk Tuesday, with two Norwegian inspectors who had tried to arrest it still on board.
PHOTO: FORSVARET/SCANPIX
Related stories:
Russian trawler flees inspection - 17.10.2005

The drama that began in the Barents Sea over the weekend heated up on Tuesday. Four Norwegian coast guard vessels were tracking the trawler Elektron, in an ongoing effort to get it to stop or set course for Tromsø in northern Norway.

The Norwegians have accused the Elektron's crew of violating fishing and pollution regulations in the area. Two Norwegian inspectors were still on board the trawler when it started defying a Norwegian arrest order on Sunday and sailed towards Russia instead of Norway.

The Norwegians were considering firing at the vessel on Monday, but held back. Russian media later reported that the captain was claiming his vessel was under fire.

The reports, however, were denied by Russian border patrol officials. Vladimir Berjochin of the border patrol station in Murmansk said the Norwegians merely fired signal flares, as a way of trying to enforce their message that the trawler should stop. He even noted that the Norwegians had shown restraint in trying to arrest the trawler.

Russian authorities nonetheless sent out a patrol boat to meet the Elektron and escort it into Murmansk. The trawler was located about 200 nautical miles from land but reportedly entered Russian waters mid-morning.

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1136970.ece

Diplomats try to solve 'crisis'
The foreign ministers of both Norway and Russia seemed keen Tuesday to reach a diplomatic solution to a drama in the Arctic, where a Russian trawler is defying a Norwegian arrest order.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergej Lavrov wants to solve what he called a "crisis situation."
PHOTO: CZAREK SOKOLOWSKI/AP
Related stories:
Arctic drama heats up - 18.10.2005
Barents full of political sensitivities - 18.10.2005
Foreign policy stays steady - 18.10.2005
Russian trawler flees inspection - 17.10.2005

Russian Foreign Minister Sergej Lavrov called the standoff between the trawler Elektron and the Norwegian Coast Guard "a crisis situation," according to Russian news bureau Ria Novosti.

He made it clear, however, that he hoped for a diplomatic solution. "Both sides understand that this crisis situation shall be solved through negotiations," Lavrov said.

Norway's new foreign minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, said diplomatic channels were being tapped to try to resolve the matter. He stressed that it's a fishing trawler that has gotten into trouble with the Norwegians, not a nation.

The Murmansk company owning the trawler, Kors, has declined to comment on the conflict.

The trawler remained on course for Murmansk on Tuesday, even though the Norwegians have put an arrest order on the vessel and want it to proceed to a Norwegian port instead. On board are two Norwegian inspectors involved in claims that the trawler had violated fishing and pollution regulations.

Støre wouldn't comment on whether the Norwegians would go along with a Russian arrest of the ship.

Unhappy inspectors
The two inspectors, meanwhile, reportedly are being well-treated, but are tired of being held on the trawler.

"There's a storm, so there's lots of waves," one of the men told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) on Tuesday, on the basis of anonymity. "We're trying to get some sleep."

He said the Russian trawler's crew had given them food and coffee. "This is, of course, a serious situation, and we're beginning to get tired of being here," he said.

Officials at the Russian embassy in Oslo broke their silence early Tuesday afternoon and said the men probably would be transferred over to a Russian patrol boat sent out to meet the trawler.

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1137195.ece

 

[Baloo]

Fleeing boat nears Russia waters
Undated file photo of the Russian fishing trawler Elektron
The Elektron has two Norwegian inspectors on board
A Russian trawler which fled with two Norwegian fisheries officials on board after they inspected its catch is nearing Russian territorial waters.

Tracked by four Norwegian coastguard ships and an aircraft, the vessel is expected to enter Russian waters early on Wednesday and make for port.

The boat, the Elektron, was intercepted on Saturday for suspected illegal fishing and told to go to Norway.

But it unexpectedly changed its course and headed for Russian waters instead.

Moscow has now sent an anti-submarine ship to prevent the Norwegians entering its waters.

The trawler was stopped in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic, in waters claimed by Norway.

Norwegian authorities said the Elektron had been using illegal fishing equipment which violated quota rules on fishing catches.

The Norwegians have been trying without success to stop the Russian boat, the Electron, by snagging its propeller.

Oslo has also complained that it is getting little help from Russia to resolve the incident.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow did not recognise Norway's right to police Arctic waters.

"The incident took place in the Spitzbergen area, which the Norwegian side has proclaimed a fish-protection zone. We have never agreed to the parameters that the Norwegians set unilaterally," Mr Lavrov said.

Unusual situation

On Tuesday, Russia said the situation would be resolved through diplomacy.

It said its forces were waiting to intercept the ship when it entered their waters, when it would release the Norwegian inspectors and accompany the trawler to the Russian port of Murmansk.


Map of Norway and Russia
You have to admit that the situation is unusual
John Espen
Norwegian military spokesman

A Norwegian military spokesman earlier told the AFP news agency that the Elektron was off the Norwegian and Russian coasts in international waters.

"They're still not co-operating," John Espen said. "They are currently heading towards Russian waters."

Mr Espen said the Norwegian navy had held back from intervening because of bad weather.

He said Norway was not worried about the two inspectors, "but you have to admit that the situation is unusual".

A spokesman for the trawler's owner, the Union of the Fish Industry of the North, told the Interfax news agency that he believed a conflict over fishing quotas was behind the incident.

Norway and Russia have land and sea borders in the Arctic, and disputes over fishing rights have become increasingly common.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4351136.stm