Since then the Rytas and its crew have been detained in Malabo, on the island of Bioko. Diplomatic efforts by several countries to liberate the Rytas and the crew have not yet produced any results.
The 117.5-meter-long Rytas, a refrigerated cargo ship, was carrying 2,656 tons of frozen fish and more than 100 tons of fishmeal and was detained in neutral waters on its way from Mauritania to Cameroon. The cargo, worth an estimated $1 million, belongs to the Belgian company Luyben ALG. Handelsmaat NV.
Equatorial Guinea's authorities accused the Rytas of fishing illegally in its waters. The owner of the vessel, the Baltlanta company, and its operator, Baltic Atlant Shipping, maintain that the vessel is a cargo ship and is not equipped for fishing activities. Rytas' Captain Valentin Malykhin told LNK TV by telephone that Equatorial Guinea's military demanded $500,000 in cash and started to unload fish from the Rytas.
Petras Zapolskas, director of the information and culture department at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, said that a trial of the Rytas' crew was scheduled for Nov. 28.
"However, you never know what to expect in that country. They can always say Ômanana' [tomorrow]," Zapolskas said.
Indeed, a trial didn't take place because the military of Equatorial Guinea refused to obey the envoy of the country's president and didn't attend court hearings, according to Malykhin.
"We're organizing international diplomatic pressure on Equatorial Guinea. We have involved in this operation as many people as we have in any other case," Zapolskas said.
The crew of the Rytas consists of 34 Lithuanian citizens, one Ukrainian citizen and four Russian citizens, including the captain. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry also asked the Russian Foreign Ministry for help. Lithuania also asked French officials for help, because France has a big influence in west Africa.
Vilnius also involved Madrid's officials in the rescue operation because Equatorial Guinea was a Spanish colony before its 1968 independence declaration. The African country is predominately Catholic and Lithuanian diplomats urged the Holy See to help.
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry has discussed the possibility of sending its own representatives to Equatorial Guinea to solve the matter.
However, Zapolskas said that most important is the involvement of the U.S. State Department. On Nov. 30 Parliament Chairman Arturas Paulauskas asked John Tefft, the U.S. ambassador to Lithuania, to mediate in an attempt to bring home the ship. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for European Affairs Daniel Hamilton, who was visiting Vilnius to discuss NATO issues last week also promised to look into the matter.
"A special person for investigating this case was assigned in the U.S. Embassy in neighboring Cameroon. The Americans have no embassy in Equatorial Guinea itself," Zapolskas said.
On Nov. 30 some 25 protesters demonstrated near the Embassy of Equatorial Guinea in Washington, according to Lietuvos Rytas. Most of the protesters were Lithuanians who moved to the United States during the last decade. They carried the Lithuanian flag and posters that read, "Get your own fish!", "Equatorial Guinea stop pirating" and "Free the Rytas". American Jeffrey Loman, who served for 20 years in the U.S. Navy, organized the protest. He worked in the U.S.-Lithuanian military contact group in Vilnius in 1995 and 1996 and is married to a Lithuanian.
According to veteran Lithuanian fishermen, the small African country's economy rapidly deteriorated after independence in 1968: the TV and radio tower collapsed, newspapers were closed, electricity supplies stopped, people suffered from food shortages and the legal system ceased to function.
By Rokas M. Tracevskis
VILNIUS - Two navy ships belonging to Equatorial Guinea threatened the Lithuanian cargo vessel Rytas, ordering it to sail to the African country's port of Malabo on Nov. 10 after accusing it of illegally fishing in its waters.
Since then the Rytas and its crew have been detained in Malabo, on the island of Bioko. Diplomatic efforts by several countries to liberate the Rytas and the crew have not yet produced any results.
The 117.5-meter-long Rytas, a refrigerated cargo ship, was carrying 2,656 tons of frozen fish and more than 100 tons of fishmeal and was detained in neutral waters on its way from Mauritania to Cameroon. The cargo, worth an estimated $1 million, belongs to the Belgian company Luyben ALG. Handelsmaat NV.
Equatorial Guinea's authorities accused the Rytas of fishing illegally in its waters. The owner of the vessel, the Baltlanta company, and its operator, Baltic Atlant Shipping, maintain that the vessel is a cargo ship and is not equipped for fishing activities. Rytas' Captain Valentin Malykhin told LNK TV by telephone that Equatorial Guinea's military demanded $500,000 in cash and started to unload fish from the Rytas.
Petras Zapolskas, director of the information and culture department at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, said that a trial of the Rytas' crew was scheduled for Nov. 28.
"However, you never know what to expect in that country. They can always say Ômanana' [tomorrow]," Zapolskas said.
Indeed, a trial didn't take place because the military of Equatorial Guinea refused to obey the envoy of the country's president and didn't attend court hearings, according to Malykhin.
"We're organizing international diplomatic pressure on Equatorial Guinea. We have involved in this operation as many people as we have in any other case," Zapolskas said.
The crew of the Rytas consists of 34 Lithuanian citizens, one Ukrainian citizen and four Russian citizens, including the captain. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry also asked the Russian Foreign Ministry for help. Lithuania also asked French officials for help, because France has a big influence in west Africa.
Vilnius also involved Madrid's officials in the rescue operation because Equatorial Guinea was a Spanish colony before its 1968 independence declaration. The African country is predominately Catholic and Lithuanian diplomats urged the Holy See to help.
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry has discussed the possibility of sending its own representatives to Equatorial Guinea to solve the matter.
However, Zapolskas said that most important is the involvement of the U.S. State Department. On Nov. 30 Parliament Chairman Arturas Paulauskas asked John Tefft, the U.S. ambassador to Lithuania, to mediate in an attempt to bring home the ship. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for European Affairs Daniel Hamilton, who was visiting Vilnius to discuss NATO issues last week also promised to look into the matter.
"A special person for investigating this case was assigned in the U.S. Embassy in neighboring Cameroon. The Americans have no embassy in Equatorial Guinea itself," Zapolskas said.
On Nov. 30 some 25 protesters demonstrated near the Embassy of Equatorial Guinea in Washington, according to Lietuvos Rytas. Most of the protesters were Lithuanians who moved to the United States during the last decade. They carried the Lithuanian flag and posters that read, "Get your own fish!", "Equatorial Guinea stop pirating" and "Free the Rytas". American Jeffrey Loman, who served for 20 years in the U.S. Navy, organized the protest. He worked in the U.S.-Lithuanian military contact group in Vilnius in 1995 and 1996 and is married to a Lithuanian.
According to veteran Lithuanian fishermen, the small African country's economy rapidly deteriorated after independence in 1968: the TV and radio tower collapsed, newspapers were closed, electricity supplies stopped, people suffered from food shortages and the legal system ceased to function.
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