vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #607 / Crime watch / Reading article...

A Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky court on Wednesday sentenced the captain of a crab poaching vessel which sank after being chased by border guards to two years in a colony-settlement, a minimum security prison in Russia.

Alexander Malyshev, the captain of the refrigeration vessel Priozerny, was found guilty of illegally crossing the state border and abuse of his position.

Malyshev was captain of Priozerny in the summer of 2006 when he and the crew were working in the sea of Okhotsk. On June 5 the captain did not report crab catches on board his vessel to the Russian fishing inspectorates. When spotted by border patrol guards, the captain decided to flee and sailed into the Russian waters avoiding official border control.

The border guards managed to stop the vessel and seize the ship’s documents. They also took samples of crab catches from the Priozerny. However, during the chase, water started to flood the machinery department and two hours after the inspectors came on board, the vessel started to sink. The crew of 18 people was transferred to the border guard vessel.

The court ruled that Malyshev had broken the law by abusing his position and violating the state border regulations. He will face two-year imprisonment in a colony settlement, prosecutors said.