Guinea Drops Charges to Luchegorks Tanker
Guinean authorities dropped yesterday the accusations presented to Yury Shcherbinkin, captain of tanker Luchegorsk. The Russian tanker was seized in Sierra Leonean waters on Tuesday for violating the economic zone of Guinea.
On Tuesday, Guinean border patrol officers boarded Luchegorsk, which was in Sierra Leonean waters. The Russians were accused of violating the economic zone of Guinea and told to pay the fee of $20,000. In the end, the border officers managed to get $7,000 of the amount, took passports of 19 sailors and the ship’s documents and escorted Luchegorsk to the port of Conakry for further investigation.
Despite the charges withdrawal, Luchegorsk is still in Conakry, as Guinea has claims to Aldah, the Swiss owner of the ship’s freight. One of Aldah’s vessels has run into debt to Guinea and the authorities ordered Russia’s tanker to lie up till the debt is settled.
There’s some improvement, said Galina Lapinskene, chief of the RP department at Primorie Shipping Co. The tanker and its crew could be released Thursday or Friday, but the sailors will hardly get back their $7,000.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 24, 2006
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