MOSCOW, July 18 (RAPSI) - The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that Russia must pay the Netherlands about € 5.4 million in compensation in the Arctic Sunrise ship confiscation case, according to the document released on the court’s website on Tuesday.
The lawsuit was filed by the Netherlands in October 2013.
In August 2015, the Court held that Russian authorities are to compensate the Dutch side in the Arctic Sunrise case.
The Court found that Russia had “breached its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“Convention”) by boarding, investigating, inspecting, arresting, detaining, and seizing the Arctic Sunrise, a vessel flying the Dutch flag, without the prior consent of the Netherlands, and by arresting, detaining, and initiating judicial proceedings against the thirty persons on board that vessel (“Arctic 30”),” the court’s press release reads.
The Tribunal also determined that Russia had “breached the Convention by failing to comply with the order prescribing provisional measures issued by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in connection with this arbitration (“ITLOS Provisional Measures Order”) and by failing to pay the deposits requested by the Tribunal in the proceedings.”
According to the ruling, the Netherlands is entitled to damages for the loss of the Arctic Sunrise, material and nonmaterial damages of the Arctic 30 group as well as the expenses incurred by the Netherlands while issuing a bank guarantee under an order from the UN International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
Also, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that Russia must return the items confiscated from Arctic Sunrise and, “due to its inability to restore the initial rights in timely manner,” compensate the value to the Netherlands.
On September 18, 2013, Greenpeace activists attempted to land on the Prirazlomnaya oil rig to protest oil production in the Arctic. The next day, Russian border officials landed on the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise in a helicopter and towed it to Kola Bay. All 30 crew members were arrested.
After the protest on the Prirazlomnaya, a criminal case on piracy was opened. Later, the charges were changed to disorderly conduct.
In December 2013, all 30 activists were released under an amnesty marking 20 years of the Russian Constitution.