Russia must pay the Netherlands 5.4 million euros in the Arctic Sunrise case

According to the decision of the International Arbitration, established through the mediation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, Russia is obliged to pay compensation of almost 5.4 million euros for the detention and arrest of the vessel Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise in 2013. About this, with reference to the press release of the court, TASS reports on July 18 .

The decision states that the Netherlands must pay 1.7 million euros in compensation for damage caused by the Arctic Sunrise, and more than 3 million euros in compensation for material and non-material damage suffered by 30 members of the ship's crew.

In addition, Russia must reimburse the Netherlands 625 thousand euros for arbitration costs and 13.5 thousand as compensation for expenses incurred by the Netherlands in connection with the issuance of a bank guarantee in favor of the Russian Federation in accordance with the order of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on interim measures.

The decision was taken by the judges unanimously, on the sums due to the Netherlands, "interest shall be charged", in case of late payment.

The head of the Netherlands Foreign Ministry, Bert Kunders, stressed that Russia must respect the decision of the International Arbitration and noted that he hopes that the obligations will be fulfilled.

On the merits of the dispute, the decision was made back in August 2015 - it was found that “the Russian Federation violated its obligations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea by boarding, examining, searching, arresting, detaining and seizing the Arctic Sunrise, a vessel flying the Dutch flag, without the prior consent of the Netherlands, as well as by arresting, detaining and initiating legal proceedings against 30 persons on board the ship.” The Russian Federation did not appoint its representatives and refused to participate in the arbitration.

On September 18, 2013, crew members of the Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise attempted to stage a protest on the Prirazlomnaya offshore platform. However, the ship, which was at that moment outside the territorial waters of Russia, was seized by armed Russian border guards and taken in tow to the port of Murmansk. The 30 people on board, including four Russians, were taken into custody and sent to a pre-trial detention center in Murmansk, and then in St. "hooliganism" (Article 213 of the Criminal Code). At the end of November 2013, the protesters were released on bail and then amnestied.