MOSCOW, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - A spokesman for the Norwegian Coast Guard said Thursday that the organization is glad that the five-day incident involving the Russian trawler detained for alleged fishing violations and two Norwegian inspectors held on board it has been settled. The inspectors boarded the Elektron as the Norwegian Coast Guard tried to arrest it for violating the fishery protection zone, unilaterally set up by Norway off the Svalbard Islands, north of the Arctic Circle.
The inspectors ordered Elektron's captain to proceed to a Norwegian port for further investigation, but the trawler, with the inspectors still aboard, fled into Russian waters, and Norwegian ships followed in pursuit.
At the height of the drama Monday night, the Elektron captain called for Russian ships to come to his aid and said the trawler could take radical action against the Norwegian boats, including deliberately colliding with them.
An agreement was reached between Russia and Norway to allow the trawler to be convoyed to the Russian port of Murmansk.
The incident ended Thursday when the inspectors were transferred from the Elektron to a Norwegian vessel via an intermediary Russian vessel at 9:15 GMT at a bay near the Arctic port of Murmansk.
