By Kevin M. Mathewson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India — Police in southern India say they have arrested the crew of a US-owned ship accused of illegally entering Indian waters with a huge cache of weapons on board.

Eight crew and 25 security guards aboard the MV Seaman Guard Ohio were arrested after they failed to produce documents allowing them to carry the weapons, Foreign Secretary Sujata Singh told reporters. The men were charged with illegal possession of weapons and ammunition, and entering India’s territorial waters without permission, Singh said.

“The crew and security guards are cooperating with the investigators,” Singh said, adding that information about the case had been shared with representatives from the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.

The ship’s owner, AdvanFort, claim the vessel was involved in supporting anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean.

The Indian authorities say they intercepted the American ship last weekend when it was reportedly sailing off the coast of Tamil Nadu.

However, in a statement released on Monday, AdvanFort said India’s coast guard and police allowed the vessel to enter the port to refuel and shelter from a cyclone which hit India’s eastern coast last weekend. The company even thanked officials.

“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 said.

In recent years piracy has emerged as a major threat to merchant ships in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea, with ships and their crews sometimes hijacked for ransom. Last year  two fisherman were shot to death by armed Italian marines. The marines were part of a military security team on a cargo ship when they fired at the fishermen, mistaking them for pirates. The two Italians are facing trial in India for the deaths.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – MV Seaman Guard Ohio: India police arrest crew of US ship – 18 October 2013

Huffington Post – MV Seaman Guard Ohio Arrests: Crew Of U.S. Owned Ship Held In India For Illegally Transporting Weapons – 18 October 2013

Aljazeera – India arrests US ship crew over weapons – 18 October 2013

Bloomberg News – India Arrests Crew of U.S.-Owned Ship Over Weapons, PTI Reports – 18 October 2013