MURMANSK, October 20 (RIA Novosti, Yekaterina Kozlova) - Two Norwegian fishing inspectors have been transferred from the Russian trawler Elektron to a Norwegian vessel, a Russian Northern Fleet source said Thursday. The inspectors were transferred to the Norwegian patrol boat Tromse via an intermediary Russian vessel at 1:15 p.m. Moscow time (9:15 a.m. GMT ) at a bay near the Arctic port of Murmansk.
An official from the Federal Security Service's border control department said three Russian coast guard officers had also boarded the Tromse to hold consultations with their Norwegian counterparts and receive papers documenting the Elektron's alleged fishing violations.
The inspectors boarded the Elektron Saturday as the Norwegian Coast Guard tried to arrest it for allegedly violating the fishery protection zone, unilaterally set up by Norway off the Svalbard Islands, north of the Arctic Circle. But the trawler fled into Russia's waters after a five-day chase, with the inspectors still aboard.
