A Japanese fishing boat with six on board was captured by the
Russian border guard Sunday near disputed waters off Hokkaido,
Kyodo News said late Sunday.
The 19-ton boat was seized at around 8 AM Japan time (23:00 GMT,
Saturday) for operating in a sea area off limits under a
1998bilateral accord and for failing to follow an order to stop,
Japan's coast guard quoted the Russian border guard as saying.
All six crew members are safe and the two sides are trying to
gather enough information before handling the case, the report
said.
In August 2006, a Japanese fisherman was shot dead by gunfire
from a Russian patrol vessel while operating on a fishing boat
sailing in waters around one of the disputed islands known as the
Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in
Russia.
(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2007)
