MURMANSK, October 24 (RIA Novosti) - The Norwegian Coast Guard detained two fishing vessels near the Svalbard islands, a local fishers' union said Monday.
The union said the ships owned by the Arkhangelsk trawl fleet and the Murmansk fishing fleet were detained after the Russian sailors failed to notify Norway about their plans to enter the Medvezhy Island 12-mile zone, which belongs to Norway.
The union said Norwegian inspectors were to decide on the ships' fate.
This comes on the heels of a similar incident involving a Russian trawler, detained in the Barents Sea October 15 after two Norwegian inspectors boarded the ship, accused of violating fishing rights. The trawler then fled with the inspectors still aboard to avoid arrest. An agreement was reached between Russia and Norway to allow the trawler to be convoyed to the Russian port of Murmansk.
