ID :
104270
Wed, 02/03/2010 - 09:34
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/104270
The shortlink copeid
Fired-on Japan schooners guilty of turning off GPS for 4.5 hours.
TOKYO, February 2 (Itar-Tass) - A suspicious 4.5-hour lapse was
detected in navigation computer recordings of the two Japanese schooners that had been fired on by a Russian borderguard helicopter off Kunashir Island on January 29 for their refusal to stop.
The Japanese Maritime Safety Agency, conducting investigation into
this case, detects a possibility of a deliberate attempt at concealing
that the above vessels conducted fishing outside the permitted area in the
Russian zone, reports the Kyodo news agency on Tuesday. According to
reports, agency investigators continue questioning crewmembers of the
schooners.
The management of the fishing cooperative society, owning the boats,
stated initially that they had not left the limits of the permitted zone,
referring to data, received via satellites of the Global Positioning
System. The Japanese Foreign Ministry repeated this assertion in its
protest, sent to the Russian side on January 30.
When officers of the Maritime Safety Agency did not found recordings,
fishermen said that they "erased" them as unnecessary. However, a
representative of the Japanese marine resources agency explained later
that the satellite transmitter switches on automatically, and it is
impossible to erase recordings.
For his part, a representative of the producer company of the
satellite system, used by schooners, reported that a spontaneous lapse in
recordings for several hours is impossible and that the transceivers were
evidently switched off.
The Japanese coastguard service that had inspected the schooners, also
established that their crews had tried to conceal traces of holes. Out of
15 bullet holes on the Taka Maru 58 vessel and five on the Kiyomi Maru 63,
12 and two, respectively, were thoroughly plugged and painted back before
the arrival of officials. Fishermen told officers of the coastguard
service that they "did not want to say of the firing so as not to create
inconveniences".
On February 1, the Russian Foreign Ministry rejected the protest of
the Japanese side in connection with the firing on the two Japanese
schooners. The ministry appraised it as "an unsubstantiated and
unacceptable demarche" and is convinced that "precisely the Russian side
has a reason to protest".
According to a report by the Russian Foreign Ministry, a helicopter of
the Russian Borderguard Service spotted two Japanese fishing vessels Taka
Maru 58 and Kiyomi Maru 63 in the sea area northeast of Kunashir Island on
January 29 at 13.15 Sakhalin time.
They were in Russian territorial waters at a distance of 1.5 sea miles
from Kunashir, which is a violation of the bilateral agreement,
prohibiting Japanese to fish in the three-mile zone off the South Kuriles.
According to the report, the schooners ignored signals to stop and tried
to escape. As a result, fire was opened on them to hit. The vessels
started drifting. However, later, without waiting for Russian coastguard
ships, they escaped to the Japanese zone.
-0-bur/usn
detected in navigation computer recordings of the two Japanese schooners that had been fired on by a Russian borderguard helicopter off Kunashir Island on January 29 for their refusal to stop.
The Japanese Maritime Safety Agency, conducting investigation into
this case, detects a possibility of a deliberate attempt at concealing
that the above vessels conducted fishing outside the permitted area in the
Russian zone, reports the Kyodo news agency on Tuesday. According to
reports, agency investigators continue questioning crewmembers of the
schooners.
The management of the fishing cooperative society, owning the boats,
stated initially that they had not left the limits of the permitted zone,
referring to data, received via satellites of the Global Positioning
System. The Japanese Foreign Ministry repeated this assertion in its
protest, sent to the Russian side on January 30.
When officers of the Maritime Safety Agency did not found recordings,
fishermen said that they "erased" them as unnecessary. However, a
representative of the Japanese marine resources agency explained later
that the satellite transmitter switches on automatically, and it is
impossible to erase recordings.
For his part, a representative of the producer company of the
satellite system, used by schooners, reported that a spontaneous lapse in
recordings for several hours is impossible and that the transceivers were
evidently switched off.
The Japanese coastguard service that had inspected the schooners, also
established that their crews had tried to conceal traces of holes. Out of
15 bullet holes on the Taka Maru 58 vessel and five on the Kiyomi Maru 63,
12 and two, respectively, were thoroughly plugged and painted back before
the arrival of officials. Fishermen told officers of the coastguard
service that they "did not want to say of the firing so as not to create
inconveniences".
On February 1, the Russian Foreign Ministry rejected the protest of
the Japanese side in connection with the firing on the two Japanese
schooners. The ministry appraised it as "an unsubstantiated and
unacceptable demarche" and is convinced that "precisely the Russian side
has a reason to protest".
According to a report by the Russian Foreign Ministry, a helicopter of
the Russian Borderguard Service spotted two Japanese fishing vessels Taka
Maru 58 and Kiyomi Maru 63 in the sea area northeast of Kunashir Island on
January 29 at 13.15 Sakhalin time.
They were in Russian territorial waters at a distance of 1.5 sea miles
from Kunashir, which is a violation of the bilateral agreement,
prohibiting Japanese to fish in the three-mile zone off the South Kuriles.
According to the report, the schooners ignored signals to stop and tried
to escape. As a result, fire was opened on them to hit. The vessels
started drifting. However, later, without waiting for Russian coastguard
ships, they escaped to the Japanese zone.
-0-bur/usn
