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BURNING ISSUE OF ILLEGAL OPERATIONS IN MARITIME SECUTITY
The Incident of Seaman Guard Ohio .

Sun, Oct 13 2013. 09 27 PM IST
India has detained an armed ship operated by a US maritime security company and the 35 people on board for failing to produce papers authorizing it to carry weapons and ammunition in Indian waters, the coast guard said on Sunday.

Coast Guard commandant Anand Kumar said the ship was stopped on Friday and was being held in the port of Tuticorin along with its 10 crew and 25 armed security guards until required documentation is submitted.

The crew and security guards included British, Estonian, Indian and Ukrainian nationals, Kumar said.

The southern tip of India is close to major trading routes from Asia to Europe. Many cargo ships now travel with armed guards to deter pirates. Sri Lanka, close to Tuticorin, is a popular boarding point for private armed guards.

"At the moment the documents are still awaited," Kumar said. "We have to see how valid are the documents that they do produce towards their entry into Indian waters and carrying arms and ammunitions."

The Sierra Leone-flagged ship Seaman Guard Ohio belongs to Virginia-based AdvanFort, a maritime security firm that specializes in anti-piracy operations. AdvanFort and the US consulate in Chennai were not immediately available for comment.

Kumar said the ship was approached and detained on Friday night. He said authorities had been assured they would receive documentation within an hour of the detention, but that 24 hours later the ship's master had still not produced them.

Detained ship may be floating armoury to check piracy: Deputy NSA Nehchal Sandhu.
NEW DELHI: Government is awaiting a report on an American ship, detained by Coast Guard for its suspicious movement in Indian waters, believed to be a floating armoury meant to supply arms to private agencies engaged in stopping piracy in high seas.

"You have had piracy earlier in the Strait of Malacca and now in the Gulf. People who provide such security need a floating armoury. My suspicion is that the boat in Tuticorin is a floating armoury for one of these private security agencies," Deputy National Security Adviser Nehchal Sandhu today said.

Sandhu, a former chief of Intelligence Bureau, said piracy has increased in international waters and civil maritime operations have employed private maritime security companies against pirates.

The vessel, MV Seaman Guard Ohio, whose crew included eight Indians, was intercepted and detained by the Indian Coast Guard about 15 nautical miles east of Tuticorin on Saturday.

An FIR has been registered against 10 crew members and 25 guards of the detained ship by the Tamil Nadu Marine Police for illegally carrying arms and ammunition.

Besides, a case under the Essential Commodities Act has been registered for buying 1,500 litres of diesel illegally with the help of a local shipping agent.

Asked whether the incident was similar to the one in 2012 off Kerala coast when guards from an Italian ship killed two Indian fishermen, Sandhu said that was a separate incident and cannot be compared with impounding of the ship now.

"Well, in Italian Marine case, there was an offence. But here the weapons were discovered on board the ship," he said on the sidelines of a function here.