VLADIVOSTOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th July, 2019) Russian diplomats are engaged in resolving the situation with the Russian fishing vessel Xiang Hai Lin 8, which was seized by North Korea, a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry's office in Vladivostok told Sputnik on Wednesday.
North Korean border guards seized the ship on the night of July 17 and escorted it to the port city of Wonsan. The vessel's crew includes 17 people, including 2 citizens of South Korea.
"Our embassy is aware of the situation, diplomats are engaged in resolving this issue. As far as I know, they managed to meet with the crew of the vessel," the spokesperson said.
The shipowner's deputy director, Sergey Sedler, said that the crew was split. The captain, his assistant and two South Korean specialists were placed in a hotel, and the rest were being kept in cabins and not released on deck. Interrogations and inspections are conducted daily, there are fears that the ship may run out of water and food.
"This is a single crew, and we demand that all of its members be returned on board, and the vessel to the shipowner," Sedler said.
He also said, citing the Russian consul, that the crew had been detained due to the fact that the vessel had allegedly entered the protected zone without notice. Sedler explained that the territorial waters of the state are 12 miles from the coast, but the DPRK established for itself a military-protected zone with an additional 50 miles, but this is an area, where ships of Russia and other countries freely move. He noted that the vessel's route was usual, as it had finished fishing for crab in Russia's Far East, filled out papers in Russia's Zarubino and was shipping the cargo to the South Korean port of Sokcho.
