Japan will sue via an international maritime court for the early release of a fishing boat and its crew, which were seized by Russian authorities last month, the government said Thursday.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>According to Senior Vice Foreign Minister Katsuhito Asano, the government may file the suit Friday. It will be the first time for Japan to take action at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Asano said Japan decided to go to the court and forgo diplomatic means because it does not see any signs of a resolution.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'We have frequently urged Russia to release the crew . . . but there seems to be a tendency for Russia to prolong –

detention," he said in a news conference.

The fishing boat Hoshin Maru No. 88 from Toyama Prefecture and all 17 men aboard were seized June 1 in waters east of the Kamchatka Peninsula for allegedly violating fishing regulations.

Russian authorities still have the boat and are continuing to interrogate the crew.

The Russian border patrol said it seized the boat because it had caught more fish than it declared and was hunting for expensive blueback salmon without Russian permission.

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