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Russia releases five Japanese fishing boats

A Japan Coast Guard vessel (lower) sprays water against Taiwanese fishing boats, in the East China Sea near the Senkaku islands as known in Japanese or Diaoyu Islands in Chinese on September 25, 2012. (File photo/AFP)
A Japan Coast Guard vessel (lower) sprays water against Taiwanese fishing boats, in the East China Sea near the Senkaku islands as known in Japanese or Diaoyu Islands in Chinese on September 25, 2012. (File photo/AFP)
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24 Dec 2019 04:12:54 GMT9
24 Dec 2019 04:12:54 GMT9

Sapporo

Five Japanese fishing boats seized by Russian authorities were released around 10 a.m. Tuesday (1 a.m. GMT), Hokkaido government officials said.

The five ships, captured off Hokkaido on Dec. 17, are expected to return to a port in Nemuro in the northernmost prefecture later in the day. The 24 crew members of the ships are in good health, the Hokkaido officials said.

A Russian court fined the captains of the five ships and others 6.43 million rubles, which apparently was paid, according to a report by Russia’s ITAR-Tass news agency.

The border guards of Sakhalin in Russia’s Far East say the boats fished 7.5 tons more than the amounts stated in their logbooks.

The Russian authorities seized the ships in waters between the Habomai group of islets and Shikotan, both among the Russian-held islands at the center of a territorial dispute between the two countries.

The ships were taken to Furukamappu on Kunashiri, another of the disputed islands known in Japan as the Northern Territories, after inspections by Russian officials. The Japanese side said the Russian action was unacceptable.

According to the prefectural officials, the five boats were catching octopus in accordance with a bilateral accord on fishing around the islands.

Jiji Press

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