In May 2012, Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) took note of the freezer stern trawlers, the “Marshal Krylov” (IMO: 8035099) and the “Marshal Vasilevskiy” (IMO: 8033869), in the waters off Western Sahara. The sailing pattern of the “Marshal Krylov” suggest that it was fishing in the outer part of the Saharawi waters, some 180 nautical miles west of Boujdour.

The two vessels are owned and managed by the Latvian company Baltreids, which is one of the largest ship-owning and fishing companies in the Baltic States. Baltreids targets pelagic species such as mackerel and sardines, and is primarily active in the coastal waters of North West Africa. More specifically, Baltreids stands for "commercial fishing in the waters of Mauritania and Morocco", as the company states on its webpage, carefully omitting occupied Western Sahara.

14 May this year, WSRW contacted Baltreids with questions regarding the company’s fleet’s presence in occupied waters. Baltreids did not reply.

The “Marshal Krylov” and the “Marshal Vasilevskiy” sail under the flag of St. Kitts & Nevis. The “Marshal Krylov” was re-flagged from the Latvian registry to St. Kitts in February 2012; the “Marshal Vasilevskiy” went through the same motions a month later.

Both vessels were part of the Latvian fleet active under the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA). The agreement accorded Latvia a quota of 8.730 tonnes in the category for industrial fishing for pelagic species.

On 14 December 2011, the European Parliament rejected the one-year extension of the Morocco FPA, based on legal, ecological and economical concerns. An infuriated Morocco urged European vessels to leave Moroccan and Saharan waters, even before the EU itself could call its fleet home. Yet according to Saharawi fishermen, Morocco did not do so before alerting the European vessel-owners on Rabat's leniency vis-à-vis re-flagging of the fishing boats. Registering the fishing vessels in another country, which has a commercial agreement with Morocco would allow continued access to Moroccan and Saharawi fish stocks, albeit with lesser legal coverage. It is unclear to WSRW how many vessels have resorted to this option, but Baltreids appears to have done so.