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A Russian boat detained by border guards for poaching in the southern part of the Kuril Islands on Monday sank in a blaze in the Aniva Bay of the Sakhalin Island two days later.

The Kyuiko Maru vessel was escorted by a border guard ship to the town of Korsakov when the fire broke in the engine-room at about 1:00 a.m. local time, sea rescue centre for Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk territory reported. Seven crewmembers of the detained boat were taken aboard the patrol ship, rescuers said.

The boat belonging to a company registered in the town of Kholmsk was stopped by border guards for an inspection on Monday. The inspection revealed about 39 tons of poached shrimp, crab, sea scallop and sea urchin. Besides, two of the crewmembers did not present any identification documents to the guards.

Border guards decided to escort the boat to Korsakov for further investigation on counts of border violation and breach of nature protection and customs legislation.