Seized Russian Fishing Ship to Be Released in Senegal

By The Moscow Times

Jan. 20, 2014

The Russian trawler detained by Senegal is expected to be released Monday, the ship's owner told RIA Novosti.

Feniks, the Russian company that owns the Oleg Naidenov, paid a $1 million fine to secure the vessel's release, a Russian state fisheries spokesman said Friday.

The trawler has been in custody in the port of Dakar since it was seized by Senegalese border guards off the coast of Guinea-Bissau on January 4 for allegedly fishing in Senegal's exclusive zone.

The captain of the Oleg Naidenov, which was carrying 62 Russians and 23 Bissau-Guinean crew members on board, insists his vessel was fishing legally in waters belonging to Guinea-Bissau.

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