Fishermen are engaged in ice fishing on ice of the Gulf of Finland on February 7, 2015. (Xinhua/SIPA)
MOSCOW, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Russian border guards have detained a vessel sailing under the Sierra Leone flag on suspicion of illegal crab fishing in Russian waters, TASS news agency reported Friday.
The incident happened in the Bering Sea in Russia's Far East, according to the border control office of the Russian Federal Security Service for the eastern Arctic region.
The schooner, called Sea Breeze, was equipped to catch and transport live crabs. However, it did not have a license to fish in Russia's exclusive economic zone, the office said.
The ship attempted to mislead the authorities by using other vessels' identification numbers and international call signs, it said.
The vessel, escorted to the Port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky for investigation, had previously been detained by Russian border guards for violations of border regulations and illegal transportation of live crab and had to pay hefty fines.