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Police in a southern Indian port city on Friday arrested the crew of a U.S.-owned ship on charges of illegally transporting weapons and ammunition in Indian waters.
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 ship is owned by Virginia-based security company AdvanFort but is registered in Sierra Leone. It was detained Oct. 12 and has been in Tuticorin port in Tamil Nadu state.
The ship's captain told investigators that the company provides armed escorts to merchant vessels traveling in pirate-infested waters in the Indian Ocean.
Police seized 35 automatic weapons and nearly 5,700 rounds of ammunition from the security guards on the ship, police said.
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," she said, adding that information about the case had been shared with representatives from the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.....snip~
India arrests crew of US ship carrying weapons
No word from our Embassy. According to the Captain.....they weren't in Indian Waters and that India's Coast Guard came to them and told them to follow them in. They say they are co-operating. Even had Indians as part of the Security Detail.
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 ship is owned by Virginia-based security company AdvanFort but is registered in Sierra Leone. It was detained Oct. 12 and has been in Tuticorin port in Tamil Nadu state.
The ship's captain told investigators that the company provides armed escorts to merchant vessels traveling in pirate-infested waters in the Indian Ocean.
Police seized 35 automatic weapons and nearly 5,700 rounds of ammunition from the security guards on the ship, police said.
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," she said, adding that information about the case had been shared with representatives from the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.....snip~
India arrests crew of US ship carrying weapons
No word from our Embassy. According to the Captain.....they weren't in Indian Waters and that India's Coast Guard came to them and told them to follow them in. They say they are co-operating. Even had Indians as part of the Security Detail.