MOSCOW, March 12 (RIA Novosti) - Norwegian maritime authorities have released Russian trawler that was detained on suspicion of violating fishing rules, Russia's Vesti TV channel said on Thursday.
The Proyekt trawler was detained by Norwegian coast guards on Tuesday night for fishing in an area temporarily closed to trawling from October last year until March 2. The vessel was allowed to leave the port of Sortland late on Wednesday after its captain and owners pledged to pay fines of $3,000 and $6,000, respectively.
This is the third case of Norwegian authorities detaining a Russian trawler since the start of the year.
Russian fishing agency officials earlier said that 95% of ship detentions are successfully contested by Russian companies in Norwegian courts. However, one day of detention in a Norwegian port costs Russian fishers $10,000-$12,000.
