Jeffrey Allison, from Middleton Tyas arrested in the Barents Sea

The North-East seafarer, speaking from Russia last night, told how he was ordered to turn his boat around and sail to Murmansk, or risk being sunk by the Russian coastguard.

Jeffrey Allison, from Middleton Tyas, between Darlington and Richmond, and his two crewmates were arrested because the Russian authorities believed they did not have the necessary permission to be sailing in the Barents Sea, close to the Arctic Circle.

But Mr Allison maintains he was sailing in international waters and complying with the Admiralty Pilot Book.

Nevertheless, a Russian court found him guilty of the offence and fined him 2,000 roubles, about £40, and his visa has been revoked – meaning he cannot return to Russia for another five years.

More importantly, the delay of about ten days caused by the legal proceedings means Mr Allison now faces a perilous voyage around the North Cape of Norway much later in the year than he would have hoped.

Mr Allison and Barrie Beeken, from Melsonby, North Yorkshire, and Craig Longstaff, from Heighington, near Darlington, were attempting to negotiate the North-East Passage, a shipping lane that links the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean along the Russian coast.

He was only ten miles short of achieving his aim when he was forced to turn back by encroaching ice.

It was on his return, about 30 miles from Norwegian waters, when he was intercepted by the Russian coastguard.

He said: “We were completely innocent. We were in the high seas outside the 12- mile limit and well on our way to Norway.

“They kept saying that we’ve got to go to Murmansk and that they could board us.

“They said that if we didn’t go to Murmansk, they would fire on us.”

Mr Allison and his crew agreed to return to the Russian port with the coastguard, where they were arrested and taken to court.

Throughout their voyage, Mr Allison said they identified themselves as a British ship and on several occasions even spoke to Russian ships.

He believes it may have been one of these ships that tipped off the coastguard to their presence.

But despite his ordeal, he remains full of praise for the Russian people and believes it is their bureaucracy to blame for his treatment.

“It’s bureaucracy gone mad over there,” he said. “Everybody was apologising for it.

“They were all lovely people – the customs and the port people and the boys from the coastguard and the people in court.

“I had lunch with one of the prosecutors and he gave me a bottle of vodka, so I gave him a bottle of whisky in return.

“I think the judge was being very fair since she had to comply with Russian law.

“However, I think the Foreign Office should make a fuss about this as we were complying with international law.”

Mr Allison has to wait until Monday to pay his fine and expects to leave for England the following day.

If Mr Allison had successfully negotiated the North- East Passage, he would have become the first man to sail the route in a fibreglass boat.

In 2007, Mr Allison and his son, James, became the first men to sail the North-West Passage, which links the Atlantic to the Pacific between Canada and Greenland, in a fibreglass boat.

Mr Allison spoke to his son at home in Middleton Tyas after yesterday’s court case.

James Allison said: “It could have been a lot worse. In 2007, they shot a Japanese fisherman dead who had entered Russian water illegally.

“I think he’s more bothered that he’s being held up when the weather’s turning, because he has to wait for the papers – and because he’s been banned from Russia for five years.

“He had wanted to do the North-East Passage, but this means he can’t go back.”

Last night, a Foreign Office spokesman said he could not comment on the circumstances surrounding Mr Allison’s arrest.

He said: “We were aware a British citizen was detained for immigration offences. Our staff in St Petersburg have been in contact with him.

“Our role has been for his welfare and he was given conciliatory assistance.”