A Japanese fishing boat with six on board was captured by the Russian border guard Sunday near disputed waters off Hokkaido, Kyodo News said late Sunday.

The 19-ton boat was seized at around 8 AM Japan time (23:00 GMT, Saturday) for operating in a sea area off limits under a 1998bilateral accord and for failing to follow an order to stop, Japan's coast guard quoted the Russian border guard as saying.

All six crew members are safe and the two sides are trying to gather enough information before handling the case, the report said.

In August 2006, a Japanese fisherman was shot dead by gunfire from a Russian patrol vessel while operating on a fishing boat sailing in waters around one of the disputed islands known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia.

(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2007)