Few vessels Norwegian customs checked

24.02.2009
Only five percent of the vessels that made port calls in Troms and Finnmark last year were met by Norwegian customs officers. 1/3 of the controlled vessels had illegal goods onboard.

A total of 3803 foreign vessels, or domestic vessels arriving from abroad, made port calls to harbours in Troms and Finnmark in 2008, shows the statistics from Troms- and Finnmark Customs district made available for BarentsObserver.com.

198 of the vessels were met by customs officials. Onboard 72 of the checked vessels, the customs found illegal goods. The detailed list of confiscated goods from the vessels includes mainly alcohol and cigarettes.

Some of the bigger confiscations were onboard Russian vessels. Mainly strong alcohol and cigarettes, but also some King Crab, says head of Troms- and Finnmark Customs district Atle Joakimsen in an e-mail to BarentsObserver.com.

866 of the vessels making port calls in Troms and Finnmark last year were Russian.

Joakimsen says there are no reasons to overdramatize the amount of confiscated goods. - In earlier years, Norwegian vessels were the ones to bring far too much tobacco, he says.

The 2008 statistic are more or less similar to the one from 2007, when 209 vessels were checked and 70 of those had illegal goods.

Source: www.barentsobserver.com