MOSCOW. May 24 (Interfax-AVN) - The coast guard ship Vorovsky has caught up with the fleeing Russian fishing trawler Rekin and forced it to slow down, the press center of the Russian Border Guard Service told Interfax on Friday.
The inspecting group - one border guard officer and five inspectors from the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky fishing authorities - were picked up from the Rekin.
The press center added that head of the Northeastern regional border guard department Lieutenant General Nikolai Lisinsky had decided to send the Vorovsky to intercept the trawler to prevent the possible concealment of illegally caught sea products.
It denied media reports that the crew had intentionally seized the inspectors and gave explanations about the situation as of 10:00 a.m. Moscow time (0600 GMT).
On Thursday the fishing trawler, based in Magadan, at instructions from its owner lifted its anchor in the area of the North Kuril islands and headed in the direction of Japan. The inspectors led by the border guard officer were aboard at the moment.
The Rekin's captain accounted his decision to the need to urgently meet the trawler Solnechny to replenish its store of freon. He did not obey a border guard officer's order to stop, the press center added.