Soviet Trawler Finds No Welcome Mat in Japanese Port

Hundreds of protesters chanted “Go home!” and “Don’t let the spy ship in!” Wednesday when a Soviet fishing trawler docked at a northern Japanese port under a new fishing agreement between the two countries.

Officials of the Regional Maritime Safety Division in Shiogama boarded two small ships to lead the 3,000-ton Novoskov to shore, said a division spokesman, Eiji Ogata.

Police spokesman Yusaku Kudo said 508 demonstrators in 112 cars waited ashore with loudspeakers to tell the vessel’s crew that their ship was not welcome.

Wants to Be Friends

Kyodo News Service said Valery Protasov, captain of the trawler, told reporters that he and the crewmen wanted to be friends with the port city’s residents.

The news agency said that the captain gave his crewmen five hours’ leave to go ashore, but that they returned after only an hour’s walk on the pier.

One protester was arrested for allegedly interfering with a police officer and one for allegedly damaging property, said a police official, who did not give his name.

The designation of Shiogama as port of call for the Soviets brought a protest from Mayor Yuzo Itsumi, who said last month that “the decision completely ignores the intention of the municipal government, and it was a rash act to destroy the principle of democracy.”

The mayor said he feared violent demonstrations in his town.

The Soviet Union and Japan decided last month that the Soviets could make as many as 50 port calls at Shiogama in 1985. In exchange, Japanese vessels would be allowed to replenish supplies at Nevelsk, on the west coast of the Soviet island of Sakhalin, which is north of Japan.

Under the agreement, Japan and the Soviet Union can catch 600,000 tons of fish annually in each other’s waters.