**Old fishing agreement allows Russian vessels to dock in the Faroe Islands. Politician calls it embarrassing**
Fishing vessels from Russian companies Murman Sea Food and Norebo JSC remain welcome in Faroese ports, even though the EU blacklisted these firms earlier this year.
This was reported by DR.
Most recently, the Russian trawler *Melkart 2* from Murman Sea Food arrived in the Faroese port of Klaksvík on Tuesday.
According to the EU, these companies are part of a Russian surveillance campaign involving espionage and sabotage of critical infrastructure—including undersea cables. The Council of the European Union stated this in a press release in May.
Since then, Norway has banned ships from the blacklisted Russian firms from sailing in Norwegian waters or docking in Norwegian ports, DR reports.
In a Facebook post, Faroese MP Sjúrður Skaale (JF) called the situation embarrassing.
*”Is there no limit to how embarrassing the Faroe Islands’ Russia policy can get?”* he wrote in the post shared on Tuesday.
In an interview with DR, he elaborated on his criticism:
*”We’ve said that we [the Faroe Islands] follow the line of the EU and Norway. But we’re not doing that when Norway has refused these ships entry—we’re the only place they can dock. So we’re not keeping our word,”* said Skaale, calling the situation highly problematic.
The Faroe Islands and Russia have had a fishing quota exchange agreement since 1977.
Under the deal, Faroese vessels fish for cod in the Barents Sea, while Russian ships catch mackerel, herring, and blue whiting in Faroese waters.
The Russian vessels then transfer their catch to freight ships near the Faroe Islands for transport back to Russia.
In a written response to DR, the Faroese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade stated that, following the EU’s latest sanctions, it is working with relevant authorities to determine whether similar Faroese measures would require new legislative action.
/
