Boats seized off Russia not Japanese

Russian authorities seized several fishing boats off the country’s north-east coast, but none of the boats were Japanese in origin, a news report said today.

Five ships were seized yesterday off the Kamchatka Peninsula on suspicion of illegal fishing, but all vessels were non-Japanese and all carried Russian crew, Kyodo News agency reported, citing the Japanese consulate in Vladivostok.

A report by the Russian news agency Interfax said four ships were seized, of which two had Japanese names: the Yamasan Maru and the Fukuseki Maru.