Russian Consul General Says There Is No Data Confirming Safety Violations By Amur Vessel

There is no information confirming that the crew of Russia's Amur merchant ship violated international agreements on safe navigation or rules for the divergence of vessels at sea, while evidence showed that Japanese fishermen could ignore some of these rules, Russian Consul General in Sapporo Sergey Marin told Sputnik on Thursday, commenting on the vessels' collision

TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th May, 2021) There is no information confirming that the crew of Russia's Amur merchant ship violated international agreements on safe navigation or rules for the divergence of vessels at sea, while evidence showed that Japanese fishermen could ignore some of these rules, Russian Consul General in Sapporo Sergey Marin told Sputnik on Thursday, commenting on the vessels' collision.

"We are in touch with the coast guard in [the Japanese port city of] Mombetsu ... There are international agreements on safe navigation and rules for the divergence of vessels at sea and the safe extraction of marine biological resources.

So far, there is no information about the violation of these norms by Russian sailors. At the same time, as for Japanese fishermen, there is information that they had ignored some of these rules," Marin said.

The captain of the Japanese fishing schooner, in particular, was on deck, three fishermen were without life jackets, and they did not give a sound signal, the diplomat added.