VLADIVOSTOK, April 17 - RAPSI. The Fifth Commercial Appeals Court in Vladivostok has ordered shipping company RIMSCO to pay 70 million rubles ($2.2 million) to Far East Shipping Company for rescuing its ice-trapped ship in January 2011, court spokesperson Marina Kratanchuk told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.

In December 2010, five vessels got trapped in the ice in the Sea of Okhotsk, including the Sodruzhestvo mother fishery ship, the Berez Nadezhdy refrigerator vessel, the Professor Kizevetter research ship, the Mys Yelizavety trawler and the Anton Gurin ship. The ships were rescued by two ice breakers, the Admiral Makarov and the Krasin. The operation was completed on January 31.

Far East Shipping Company estimated the operation's costs at around $7 million. The Mys Yelizavety owner issued compensation for the costs right away, but the matter had to be taken to court in order to collect the money from the others.

The Federal Commercial Court in Khabarovsk which considered the appeals filed by the plaintiff and the defendants, earlier overruled a lower court decision to collect 80 million rubles from RIMSCO and sent the case for review to the Fifth Commercial Appeals Court, which eventually upheld the claim, but cut the compensation amount from 80 to 70 million.

"The court arrested the company's building and grounds as a security measure," Kratanchuk said.

Prior reports said RIMSCO owed 37 million rubles ($1.1 million) to the government and several companies as a result of several court orders. However, these orders are difficult to enforce since the Vladivostok based company has declared itself bankrupt and sold its ships.