Captain Of Russia's Amur Asks For Consular Assistance After Collision With Japanese Boat

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 31st May, 2021) The captain of Russia's Amur merchant ship, which collided with a Japanese fishing vessel earlier this month, has officially asked the Consulate-General of the Russian Federation in Sapporo for assistance, Russian Consul General in Sapporo Sergey Marin told Sputnik.

"... the legal status has not changed, but the captain and ship owner have officially requested our consular assistance. We expect a decision in the coming days," Marin said.

The Russian Amur vessel with 23 people on board that was transporting seafood to Monbetsu from Sakhalin in Russia's Far East and Japanese fishing boat Hokko Maru No.

8 carrying 5 people collided early on Wednesday (May 26) off Hokkaido. The people from the Japanese ship were rescued by the Amur crew, but three of them were unconscious. Later, they were confirmed dead.

Marin told Sputnik on Thursday that there was no information confirming that Amur violated any international agreements on safe navigation or rules for the divergence of vessels at sea, noting that evidence points to a disregard of some of these rules by Japanese fishermen.