Topic: Arctic drama heats up

DTop · October 19th, 2005

An interesting story. I found this article today.

Quote:

Russian Trawler Home After 4-Day Chase by Norwegian Coast Guard
Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- A Russian trawler that spent four days fleeing Norwegian coast guards after being stopped on suspicion of illegal fishing is back in home waters and under the control of a Russian frigate.

Two Norwegian officials held on the trawler, the Elektron, since it was stopped Oct. 15 will be transferred to a Norwegian ship as soon as the weather permits, said Jon Espen Lien, a Bodoe, Norway-based armed forces spokesman at the Regional Headquarter North Norway, in a telephone interview today.

``The Elektron is now under the control of the Russian North Fleet,'' Lien said. The trawler is heading for the Russian port of Murmansk, accompanied by the Admiral Levtsjenko, and a Norwegian coast guard vessel is shadowing them just outside the maritime border, Lien said.

Norwegian energy companies including Norsk Hydro ASA and Statoil ASA are seeking stakes in Russian Arctic oil and gas fields. About a quarter of the world's undiscovered petroleum reserves are thought to be in Arctic waters, including the Barents Sea to the north of Russia and Norway.

The Elektron changed course toward Russia after being impounded and ordered to sail for Tromsoe, Norway. The trawler took with it two Norwegian inspectors from a coast guard vessel.

Russia and Norway disagree on the status of the waters around the Arctic island of Spitzbergen, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in remarks on Russia's state-run Perviy Kanal television channel yesterday.

``We agree in both Russia and Norway that this is a ship guilty of crimes against the environment,'' Lien said. ``This is not a question about jurisdiction.''

The ship was fishing illegally by using nets that don't discriminate between sizes of fish, Lien alleged in an interview yesterday. Norwegian prosecutors will pursue the case, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a statement today.

Norway's Norsk Hydro and Statoil are among five companies bidding for a role in a $10 billion offshore Arctic field that is being developed by OAO Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled natural-gas company.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=auHP7dEkgIAU