Russian trawler seized by Senegal to receive drinking water from French warship
MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) - Russia's fishing boat Oleg Naidyonov, which was seized by Senegalese soldiers at the beginning of January, will receive drinking water from a French naval ship.
The Russian trawler is said to be running out of drinking water.
"An agreement has been reached that a French warship, which is currently present at Dakar's port as well, will share its drinking water supplies with our fishermen," a spokesman for the Russian Federal Fisheries Agency (Rosrybolovstvo) told Interfax.
The Oleg Naidyonov is expected to be provided with 30 tonnes of drinking water.
The problem of removing garbage from the Russian vessel will be sorted out soon.
"They promised to remove the garbage in the course of the morning," he said.
According to earlier reports, Senegalese servicemen had refused to allow local utility services onboard the Russian trawler even though the vessel owner had paid for garbage collection.
Russia's fishing boat Oleg Naidyonov was intercepted by Senegalese servicemen in the Atlantic Ocean, 46 miles from the coast of Guinea-Bissau. The vessel's crew includes 62 Russians and 23 citizens of Guinea-Bissau. Senegal's soldiers acted brutally and did not give any explanation for the vessel's seizure. The vessel was taken to the port of Dakar.
It had been expected that the issue would be resolved after a meeting of Russian diplomats and a Rosrybolovstvo representative with Senegal's president on January 7. However, the meeting did not take place through the Senegalese side's fault. No new dates for such a meeting have been set so far.