Dammam, Nov 6 (Arab News): The remaining Saudi boats detained by Qatari authorities in August will be released on Sunday. Four boats were released on Thursday on the orders of a local court.

Boat owners attributed the delay in the release of two remaining boats to the completion of legal formalities in the court.

“After the completion of the paperwork, the two remaining boats will be released on Sunday,” said the head of citizens’ affairs at the Saudi Embassy in Doha Ali Al-Arjani, who confirmed the release of the four Saudi boats.

The official added that all the 28 sailors in captivity would be released shortly.

Al-Arjani warned Saudi fishermen to be careful not to stray into coastal waters of neighboring countries, causing embarrassment to the Saudi government.

An informed source said fishermen have no excuse to stray into foreign territories as they are provided with maps clearly marking the territorial waters of the Kingdom and areas where they are not allowed to fish.

On the other hand, some fishermen in the Eastern Province said that they are sometimes forced to enter the territorial waters of neighboring countries in order to bypass areas where entry is restricted because of security reasons and areas in the control of Saudi Aramco, which is carrying out operations in the Arabian Gulf.

There are over a thousand fishing boats in the Eastern Province. Last year, 40 fishermen were detained by the Qatari authorities but freed after fines were paid.

It was reported earlier that a Qatari court handed the 28 fishermen, all Indian nationals, two-year prison sentences for illegally entering Qatari waters in addition to a 5,000 Qatari riyal fine for each of their boats.

The Association of Fishermen in the Eastern Province had asked the Saudi sponsors of the fishermen to intervene in the issue.

The owners of the six boats said the ruling issued by the Qatari court was not commensurate with what the fishermen did when they strayed into Qatari waters by mistake.

“The fishermen have legal papers and licenses from the Department for Fisheries and the Border Guards to fish in the sea. The detention of the fishermen since August has caused us huge financial losses and led to us missing the fishing season,” a representative of the owners said.

He denied that the fishermen entered Qatari waters deliberately.