Belarusian citizen onboard Oleg Naydyonov trawler detained in Senegal - Foreign Ministry
MINSK. Jan 14 (Interfax) - The Belarusian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that a Belarusian citizen is onboard Russia's fishing trawler, the Oleg Naydyonov, which was detained in Senegal.
"According to the information received from Russia, the crew of the Oleg Naydyonov has a Belarusian citizen," Belarusian Foreign Ministry information department deputy head Maria Vanshina told Interfax on Tuesday.
"A [Belarusian] diplomatic mission does not exist in Senegal and the consular services of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry works in close contact with its Russian colleagues," Vanshina said.
The Oleg Naydyonov trawler was detained by Senegalese servicemen on January 3 in the Atlantic Ocean, 46 miles off the shore of Guinea-Bissau. The crew of the ship is comprised of 62 Russian citizens and 23 natives of Guinea-Bissau. Their detention was carried out without an explanation of the reasons behind it and the vessel was escorted to the military port of Dakar.
The Senegalese authorities claim that the Russian boat was fishing illegally in the economic zone of Senegal, while according to the Oleg Naydyonov captain the trawler was in the zone of Guinea-Bissau. Russia is preparing to file a lawsuit with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg.
Russia's fisheries agency Rosrybolovstvo said it felt that the incident was related to the growing competition for biological resources on the western coast of Africa.