Boris Trofimenko (Factory ship): On January 27, 2021, an Mi-8AMT helicopter operated by Russian Helicopter Systems evacuated a fisher from the fishing vessel Boris Trofimenko.¹ The trawler was located more than 40 miles off the coast of the Koni Peninsula, according to IA Magadan Media, citing the press service of Russian Helicopter Systems. A rescuer was lowered from the hovering helicopter onto the vessel to secure the patient on an evacuation stretcher, and the fisher—suffering from internal bleeding—was successfully lifted aboard and transported to Magadan to receive medical care.²

Sergey Sennikov, Deputy Director of Akros’ parent company, Norebo, told The Outlaw Ocean Project that the incident involved a crew member “who had gastrointestinal bleeding due to illness (not caused by any accident or injuries on the vessel).” The individual had undergone a health checkup before the voyage and was fit and well. A doctor on board the vessel requested the crew member’s evacuation to hospital for further treatment. “Russian emergency service was contacted to provide the evacuation with a specially equipped helicopter, and the crew member was successfully evacuated to the hospital in Magadan for medical care,” Sennikov said. “The crew member received compensation for all medical services” through health insurance, with a total cost of $1,300.

Petr Ilyin (Factory ship): At a meeting of the task force on Covid-19 prevention held by the Russian Federal Fisheries Agency (Rosrybolovstvo) in February 2021, the head of the agency Petr Savchuk confirmed cases of Covid-19 on the vessels Mekhanik Kovtun, Petr Ilyin, and Solidarnost. He instructed all regional offices of Rosrybolovstvo to tighten control over shipowners’ adherence to the required health protocols. “Without double testing and mandatory crew quarantine, a vessel must not leave port,” Savchuk said.³

Victoria 1 (Factory ship): On April 10, 2021, a cable snapped while the crew on this ship was retrieving the trawl, causing a worker to fall overboard. The crew recovered his body 45 minutes later, with no signs of life.⁴

Sennikov told The Outlaw Ocean Project that a commission investigated the incident and found that the crew member died because of the mechanical failure of the strops, which caused him to enter the water and drown. “The vessel and trawl gear is continuously affected by natural factors that impact all elements. Therefore, it is not possible to predict a possible breaking of the strops,” the spokesperson said. “The process is performed under the visual observation of crew members, and no technical means of control are available.” The family of the dead crew member received $20,000.00 USD in RUB from the shipowner as compensation as well as a further $3,600 for funeral expenses and over $18,000 for emotional harm.⁵

Aleksey Chirikov (Factory ship): On January 24, 2023, while this trawler was fishing in the Sea of Okhotsk, the boatswain was struck in the face by a steel cable while working on the deck. He died immediately.⁶

Sennikov told The Outlaw Ocean Project that a commission investigated the fatal incident and found that the crew member had violated occupational safety requirements as well as standard handling procedures for the task of moving the cable. The shipowner provided the family of the crew member with over $21,000 as compensation, the spokesperson added.⁷

“They treat people like cattle,” said a message posted online by a user named Alexandr, who said he used to work on this vessel but would never work there again.⁸

“There is no basis for this untrue statement,” said Sennikov. “[E]mployees are well treated, well paid, well trained and well cared for. Akros vessels have experienced doctors on board on some vessels. The accident rate is over 40 percent lower than the average.”⁹

Vilyuchinsky (Factory ship): On February 3, 2024, this trawler was fishing in the Sea of Okhotsk when the senior fishing master got distracted, lost his balance, and fell overboard.¹⁰ Search efforts were hampered by darkness and deteriorating weather conditions, and the crew could not find him.¹¹

Sennikov said that the investigation into the incident, which included State Labour inspectors, found that no crime was committed and that the crew member was initially working in a designated safe area of the ship but at some point had gone on the trawling gear as it was partially lifted on the deck. “This action is prohibited,” Sennikov said. “Despite several clear commands of the skipper to return to the safe area he continued to stay on the gear. He then fell off the trawling gear and fell overboard despite attempts of other crew members to prevent this.” The fisher’s body was not found despite all attempts being made immediately after ‘the man overboard’ was sounded, Sennikov said. The family of the deceased crew member received from the shipowner.¹²

Komandor (Factory ship):

Norebo said in correspondence with The Outlaw Ocean Project that any suggestion that Akros is not a responsible employer and does not take employee safety seriously “is completely untrue and to publish any such allegation would be highly defamatory.” The company “does not hire from recruiting agencies and only uses directly employed and trained crews,” said spokesperson Sergey Sennikov. “We pay high wages and properly train our crew. We look after our employees. Good employment practices help to produce good, efficient employees. It is expensive to hire and train staff and the last thing we want is for crew to be injured.” Under Russian law, Sennikov said, where there is an accident at work on board a fishing vessel, a fact-finding commission that includes representatives of the shipowner, state authorities, the trade union and the crew, investigates the incident to identify the cause and suggest corrective measures. “All accidents are thoroughly investigated and any fatal accident or accident that could have been fatal is subject to a criminal investigation,” he added. “In each case the Akros group has not been responsible for the accident or loss of life.” Sennikov also shared documentation including the Russian ministerial order for occupational safety rules on both sea-going and inland waterway vessels, the ministerial order for the service on Russian fishing vessels, and a summary of the laws and regulations in Russia concerning the health and safety of labor on fishing vessels as of December 2025.¹³

JSC Turnif

Porfiry Chanchibadze (Factory ship): “Total pay was 760,000 rubles despite promises of much more since we exceeded quota,” wrote a man who worked on this ship between September 2018 and April 2019. “Ship in terrible shape - processing room kept flooding during storms!”¹⁴

Mys Basargina (Factory ship): On December 16, 2020, a 47-year-old refrigerator unit mechanic was found dead in his workroom on this ship.¹⁵ On November 24, 2021, in the Sea of Okhotsk, during a trawl deployment operation, a broken rigging block gave a crew member a fatal head injury.¹⁶ “They mock us like slaves,” said a 2023 review by a former worker on the Mys Basargina vessel, who posted a review of the company on the business directory, Vl.ru.¹⁷

Kapitan Oleynichuk (Factory ship):
Vladivostok (Factory ship):

JSC Turnif’s parent company, Russian Fishery Company, did not respond to a request for comment.¹⁸