HELSINKI, October 25 (RIA Novosti) - Two Russian fishing boats detained by Norwegian coast guards in the Barents Sea could be released Tuesday morning, a spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Norway said.
Alexei Shadsky said the boats would be released if they provided guarantees that they would pay a fine. He added that the Norwegian authorities had not specified exactly what these guarantees should be.
On Monday, Norwegian coast guards detained a fishing boat, the Kapitan Gorbachev, and a transport vessel, the Dmitry Pokramovich, near the island of Medvezhy in the Barents Sea after they had entered a 12-mile exclusion zone without permission.
The latest arrests come against the backdrop of a drama last week with another trawler, the Elektron, which the Norwegians pursued across the Barents Sea for five days after accusing the Russian crew of violating Norwegian fishing regulations.
