MOSCOW/KHABAROVSK, February 26 (RIA Novosti) - North Korea released on Thursday a Russian ship seized off the coast of the secretive communist state over a week ago, a spokesman for the Russian consulate in Chongjin said.

North Korea detained the Omsky-122 cargo ship, owned by the Amur shipping company, in Cape Musudan in the Sea of Japan late on February 17, and the vessel was escorted to the North Korean port of Kimchaek.

"The vessel and the crew have been released," the spokesman said.

The North Korean authorities apologized to the captain and the 15 members of the crew of the Russian vessel and released it at about 9 a.m. Moscow time (06:00 GMT).

A spokesman for the Amur shipping company said North Korea would explain the causes of the detention to Russian diplomats in the country.

North Korea considers the area off Cape Musudan, where South Korean security services say there is a missile firing range, its territorial waters. The claim runs counter to the international shipping convention, which Pyongyang has not signed.

The Omsky-122 is due to arrive in Vladivostok in the Russian Far East late on Friday.