TBILISI. Nov 22 (Interfax-AVN) - The Georgian authorities have billed the owners of the Turkish vessel that was detained in Georgia's territorial waters on Tuesday.
The Georgian State Border Guard Department decided on Friday to bill the owners of the Shakir-baba seiner for GEL200,000 (USD90,000), the department's chief-of-staff Colonel Kornely Salia told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"The seiner, its crew and passengers - a total of 16 Turkish nationals - are in Poti at the moment. The vessel will be confiscated if the Turkish party refuses to pay," Salia said.
The seiner owned by the joint Turkish-Abkhaz company Amlagur was transporting 6t of fish from Sukhumi to Turkey. According to Abkhazia, Georgian border guards attacked the vessel 38 miles from the town of Pitsunda, leaving holes in its hull and wounding several people aboard.
Abkhaz Vice President Valery Arshba earlier told Interfax- AVN that the Georgian border guards' actions amounted to piracy.
The Georgian State Border Guard Department said naval guards had to chase the seiner for four hours because the crew did not obey to orders and was trying to escape to Abkhazia. Tbilisi claims nobody was wounded on the vessel as a result of warning shots.