Ships collision still under investigation
Norwegian police is awaiting answer from Russian officials after a small fishing boat was hit and sank in the Barents Sea last November.
- We have good reasons to believe that it was the Arkhangelsk based vessel that was involved in the crash, says police chief in Eastern Finnmark Håkon Skulstad to BarentsObserver.
In the evening on November 18th last year the wooden Norwegian fishing boat “Fløygrunn” was hit by a larger vessel outside the coast of Finnmark in Northern Norway. The two fishermen onboard were rescued in last minute before “Fløygrunn” went down.
Reading GPS tracks and radar plots, the Norwegian police immediately suspected the Arkhangelsk-based cargo vessel “Vladimir Timofeyev” to be the one that sank the Norwegian vessel. The captain onboard the Russian vessel however ignored to stop for inspection when called by the Norwegian coast guard. He sailed into Russian waters east of the crash site in the Barents Sea and continued to Arkhangelsk.
Arkhangelsk police met the vessel and interrogated the captain upon arrival. No traces of collision could be found on the hull of “Vladimir Timofeyev” and the Arkhangelsk police ended the investigation few days after.
- We have sent a petition to Arkhangelsk police and are waiting for the report from there, says prosecutor Ellen Kathrine Hætta to BarentsObserver.
- This can take half-a-year, or even one year, says Hætta stating that possible indictment would come after the police receives answers from Russia.
Shortly after the collision, the Arkhangelsk-based Northern Shipping Company issued a statement denying involvement of their vessel “Vladimir Timofeyev” in the collision.
