WALVIS BAY – The Samherji vessel captain Angrimur Brynjolfsson (67), pleaded guilty on three charges related to illegal fishing in Namibian waters.

Brynjolfsson who appeared on Friday in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court was found guilty with evidence on three charges by magistrate Rhivermo Williams and will be sentenced on Wednesday.

Brynjolfsson who is currently free on N$100 000 bail, contravened the Marine Act by fishing in a restricted area with the Heinaste trawler that was recently sold to a Russian company.

Court documents indicate that illegal fishing was done between 30 October and 13 November last year. 
Ironically, the Heinaste vessel was once owned by Esja Holdings – part of Icelandic firm Samherji, which featured in the Fishrot files scandal

The Fishrot has implicated a number of Namibian officials, including two former cabinet ministers.
Sinco Fishing and Epango Fishing were among five Namibian companies that formed a joint venture with Samherji, as part of Esja Holdings and co-owned Heinaste.

The Namibian shareholder paid N$260 million to co-own the vessel, before Esja Holdings allegedly tried to sell the vessel to a Russian company, despite numerous bids by their Namibian partners to stop the sale of the vessel.

Apart from, Brynjolfsson, four other vessel captains also made appearances in court on similar charges.
The captains, Pavel Seredokhin, Leonid Yehrov, Iurii Fetison, and Iurii Shupletov who are all on bail had their case postponed to 10 February to plea.

The Anti-Corruption Commission is tirelessly working to have vessels linked to the Fishrot saga attached in a bid to successfully prosecute those linked to the bribery saga.
- edeklerk@nepc.com.na