Fish dumping charges land Ukrainians in court

THREE Ukrainian citizens in the employ of the Namsov fishing company at Walvis Bay have been charged with discarding waste at sea and bribery.

They were arrested on March 30 and appeared in the Magistrate’s Court the same day. Serghey Andoniyev (43), factory manager; Hemnadi Lacortin (44), fishmeal operator; and Anoto Lrychubach (55), captain of the vessel, were released on N$20 000 bail each, which Namsov paid, according to court records.They are also not allowed to leave Walvis Bay and have had to hand in their travel documents.They were back in court on April 8 when the case was postponed to April 27 for further investigation.According to the court docket, fish was allegedly dumped in the open sea from the Namibian Star, a Namsov horse mackerel factory ship.Fish landed on board is normally sent to the fishmeal plant by conveyor belt.To the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources’ observer on board, it looked as if the fish was being sent to the fishmeal plant, but the fish was pumped back into sea.A metal plate was allegedly placed over the conveyor belt to prevent the fish from going into the plant; it was diverted into the pipe pumping it into the sea.The court papers do not indicate how much fish was dumped.When the observer found out what was happening, the factory manager allegedly gave him an undisclosed amount of money not to put it in his report.The skipper allegedly offered him four boxes of fish to keep quiet, with a promise that he would get more money once he had shown him his report.A discrepancy was apparently also noted between the estimated amount of fish landed after a catch and the total amount of fishmeal produced.The Ministry’s observer on board the vessel has to help estimate every catch together with the crew and note it in his records.Jan Arnold, Senior General Manager of Namsov told The Namibian yesterday that the three men were employed as contract workers by his company.They have since been placed on another vessel.”I would not want to comment on the case while it is still in court,” Arnold said.He added that the case was viewed in a very serious light.”We are not very happy with what happened, if all the allegations are true.”Serghey Andoniyev (43), factory manager; Hemnadi Lacortin (44), fishmeal operator; and Anoto Lrychubach (55), captain of the vessel, were released on N$20 000 bail each, which Namsov paid, according to court records.They are also not allowed to leave Walvis Bay and have had to hand in their travel documents.They were back in court on April 8 when the case was postponed to April 27 for further investigation.According to the court docket, fish was allegedly dumped in the open sea from the Namibian Star, a Namsov horse mackerel factory ship.Fish landed on board is normally sent to the fishmeal plant by conveyor belt.To the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources’ observer on board, it looked as if the fish was being sent to the fishmeal plant, but the fish was pumped back into sea.A metal plate was allegedly placed over the conveyor belt to prevent the fish from going into the plant; it was diverted into the pipe pumping it into the sea.The court papers do not indicate how much fish was dumped.When the observer found out what was happening, the factory manager allegedly gave him an undisclosed amount of money not to put it in his report.The skipper allegedly offered him four boxes of fish to keep quiet, with a promise that he would get more money once he had shown him his report.A discrepancy was apparently also noted between the estimated amount of fish landed after a catch and the total amount of fishmeal produced.The Ministry’s observer on board the vessel has to help estimate every catch together with the crew and note it in his records.Jan Arnold, Senior General Manager of Namsov told The Namibian yesterday that the three men were employed as contract workers by his company.They have since been placed on another vessel.”I would not want to comment on the case while it is still in court,” Arnold said.He added that the case was viewed in a very serious light.”We are not very happy with what happened, if all the allegations are true.”