The crew was charged with illegal possession of weapons and entering Indian territorial waters without permission.
Crew members were arrested on charges of illegal possession of weapons and ammunition. [AFP]
Police in the southern Indian port city of Tuticorin
have arrested the crew of a US-owned ship on charges of illegally
transporting weapons and ammunition in Indian waters.
Eight crew members and 25 security guards aboard the MV Seaman Guard
Ohio were arrested on Friday after they failed to produce documents
allowing them to carry the weapons, said India's foreign secretary,
Sujata Singh.
The men, from India, the UK, Estonia and Ukraine, were charged with
illegal possession of weapons and ammunition, and entering India's
territorial waters without permission, said Singh.
|
The crew and security guards are co-operating with the investigators |
"The crew and security guards are co-operating with investigators,"
she said, adding that information about the case had been shared with
representatives from the US embassy in New Delhi.
Police said that they had seized 35 automatic weapons and nearly
5,700 rounds of ammunition from the security guards on the ship.
Two of the crew members were not arrested and were allowed to stay on board to carry out maintenance.
The ship is owned by the Virginia-based security company, AdvanFort,
but is registered in Sierra Leone. It was detained on October 12 and has
been in Tuticorin port in Tamil Nadu state.
AdvanFort's president, William Watson, said: "The Indian coast guard
approached us and asked us to follow them into the port. We would never
have entered Indian waters otherwise."
The ship's captain told investigators that the company provided armed
escorts to merchant vessels travelling in areas of the Indian Ocean
prone to piracy.
India is currently sensitive about the presence of armed security
guards on merchant ships after two Italian marines shot dead two
fishermen last year, after mistaking them for pirates. The marines are
facing trial in India for the deaths.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
