Italian Vessel seized in Russia's Kerch

Crimean border guards have seized an Italian tugboat for violating Russian maritime border laws, and have arrested the crew members on board, Russia's Federal Security Service in Crimea said.

The tugboat Aran, registered in Italy, was sailing under the Maltese flag when it was detained on April 10 in the Azov Sea.

"On the board of the seized foreign vessel there were a captain and six crew members, citizens of Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro. The check carried out by the border guards revealed that the ship had violated the rules of passage from Russian maritime borders. The ship was delivered to the port of Kerch for anchorage. For the administrative proceedings the ship was arrested and banned from leaving the port," Sputnik cited the statement as saying.

An administrative case has been launched against the Slovenian company OCEAN KOPER D.O.O., which owns the Italian vessel, as well as the boat's captain. They were issued a fine of 430,000 rubles ($7,643).