MOSCOW, January 7 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has urged Senegal to provide medical assistance to the crew members of a Russian trawler detained over suspected illegal fishing last week, Russia's fisheries agency said on Tuesday.
The Russian-flagged Oleg Naidenov trawler with 62 Russians and 23 Guinea-Bissau crew onboard was detained by the Senegalese navy Saturday off the coasts of Senegal and Guinea-Bissau on suspicion of illegally fishing in Senegal’s waters.
Head of Russia’s Federal Fisheries Agency Andrei Krainiy requested Senegal’s President Macky Sall to authorize medical examination of the crew, according to Prime news agency.
The trawler’s captain, Vadim Mantorov, reportedly said that he and several other crew members needed medical attention due to violent actions of the Senegalese forces during the detention.
Krainiy also expressed hope for the crew’s soon release, the report said.
The trawler has been impounded in the port of Dakar, where it was put under military police guard.
The vessel was caught fishing illegally in Senegalese waters in February 2012 by the Greenpeace environmental group, which subsequently put the Oleg Naidenov on a blacklist of vessels accused of poaching in West African seas.
