The Seaman Guard Ohio, a suspicious looking US ship, seized by the Indian Coast Guard on Friday night — 15 nautical miles east of Thoothukudi, has been detained along with crew members and passengers by the Coast Guard authorities.
The ship owned by AdvanFort, a US based private company, had a ten-member crew (out of which eight are from India) and 25 armed security guards (four are from India). Seaman Guard Ohio, described as a fishery patrol vessel built in 1984 has been anchored at VOC Port, Thoothukudi.
The ship was seized from the region close to the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant and the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) at Kalpakkam — both highly sensitive and strategic installations. Coast Guard authorities have found that the crew illegally purchased diesel and food from fishing boats sailing in the area.
A senior police official told The Pioneer that the ship was under the custody of the Coast Guard since it was seized 15 nautical miles off the shore. “Our jurisdiction ends at the 12 nautical mile limit. Now, it is for the Coast Guard to conduct an enquiry, intimate the Director General of Shipping and the local police,” said the senior police official who did not want to be named.
He also said that the Coast Guards seized 5,000 rounds of ammunitions and 35 semi-automatic weapons from the vessel. The ship crew could not provide satisfactory answers to interrogation by multi-disciplinary agencies like the Coast Guard, Coastal Police and other security wings of the Government.
What has baffled the Indian security agencies is the claims by AdvanFort, the Washington DC headquartered company, that it specialises in maritime security, intelligence operations and information security. The company has a 24x7 Global Command and Control Centre manned by former intelligence analysts and military personnel. AdvanFort did not respond to an email sent to the company headquarters by The Pioneer about the seizure and arrest of their ship in Indian waters.
In the past, the US has spied on various strategic locations of India using all kinds of techniques and personnel under its disposal. Though AdvanFort claims in the company website that it has excellent coordination and rapport with the US Government, it could not produce a piece of official paper which authorises it to carry arms and armed guards on board.
The company introduces itself as an organisation specialising in providing maritime security from pirates and has military special operators, intelligence community veterans and former security professionals from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Captain Hariharan Balakrishnan, a former Indian Navy commander, said the seized ship at least should have a clearance certificate issued by the last port of call. “If it is a ship involved in anti-piracy activities, it should have been chartered either by the US Navy or the Coast Guard of that country. Anti-piracy security activities are done by national navies and coast guards. Till date we have not come across any private anti-piracy agencies operating on behalf of navies or coast guards,” said Captain Balakrishnan.
He also pointed out that a private ship once chartered by the national navy would become a part of the fleet. “In normal course, the Navy that hires the ship sends requests for “innocent passage” to Governments of countries along the coast through which the ship sails,” he added.
Jose Paul, former chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, New Mumbai and a leading authority on international maritime law, said the whole episode sounds disturbing and dubious. “If the ship did not have fuel and food, the crew should have sent a SOS message to the nearest Cross Guard station, which definitely would have saved them from any kind of difficulties. The fact that they came close to 15 nautical miles of the Indian coast too has to be probed. This ship sailed in the Indian coast line not with good intentions,” Paul said.