At least three countries sent diplomats to Murmansk on Thursday to meet crew members of a Greenpeace vessel that was seized by the Russian Coast Guard this week.


The United States, Sweden and the Netherlands have sent consul-generals from their St. Petersburg consulates, diplomats at each country's embassy in Moscow said. They are to be present when the ship, the Solo, anchors in the northern port.


The Solo came to the area on a mission to monitor radioactivity levels off the coast of Novaya Zemlya in the Kara Sea, which Greenpeace believes to be the site of the world's largest nuclear dump at sea.


On Monday a Russian coast guard ship fired three shots across the stern of the Solo and then boarded it. Its entire crew was detained for allegedly trespassing in Russian territorial waters, and the Solo has since been on its way to Murmansk.


Greenpeace says the ship was outside Russian jurisdiction when it was seized.


Coast Guard officials in Moscow have said that the captain and crew could face criminal charges.


The Netherlands asked Russia on Tuesday for an explanation of the incident. After not receiving an official response, the Dutch decided to send a diplomat to the scene. Germany has also asked the Russian government for explanation, according to Reuterst.


The Dutch-registered Solo has an international crew of 34. They include British, Irish, Swiss and Russian citizens, as well as Germans, Swedes, Dutchmen and Americans.


Itar-Tass reported Thursday that it was uncertain whether the Solo would reach Murmansk on schedule Friday due to weather conditions.


Another Tass report said that the Rainbow Warrior, a second Green-peace ship, had twice violated Russian territorial waters near Vladivostok by straying from its approved route. The ship has been warned against any further infringements, the report said.