TOKYO, Jan 22, SPA -- Russian border police have seized a Japanese fishing boat and its six crew members while it was in disputed waters between the two countries, prompting Tokyo to protest, Japanese officials said Monday. The No. 38 Zuisho Maru was captured Sunday morning off Kunashiri Island, one of four disputed islands in a group the Japanese call the Northern Territories and the Russians call the Kurils, Japan Coast Guard spokeswoman Sanae Kobayashi said early Monday. The boat, which was stopped by the Russian border police for inspection, has not returned to its home port of Rausu on the eastern coast of Japan's main northern island of Hokkaido. The current location of the crew and their condition was unknown, she was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. The coast guard was later notified by the Russian boarder authorities, notifying the seizure of the boat and its crew members, said another Coast Guard spokesman Hidemi Ogahara. Japan's Foreign Ministry lodged a protest, demandingRussia provide an explanation and resolve the casepromptly. «Based on Japan's position on the Northern Territoriesissue, we cannot accept (the seizure) and request that thecase (be) resolved promptly,» the ministry said in astatement issued late Sunday. Public broadcaster NHK said the Russians seized the boat because it attempted to run away following an initial order to stop for an inspection of the catch.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/419841