Five-year jail terms for crew, guards of USA ship

The ship was operated by a US maritime security firm and the incident highlighted the loosely regulated practice of placing guards on ships for protection against pirate attacks.

The judge found the crew guilty of illegally entering Indian waters without a visa and carrying weapons.

India has been very sensitive about the presence of armed security guards on merchant ships since the shooting deaths of two fishermen by armed Italian marines in 2012.

Speaking to Sky News, public prosecutor K.Sivakumar said the Modi-led central government had tried to persuade him to lessen the charges and show leniency. They cited worldwide law that permits “innocent” passage of even naval vessels of other countries and takes into consideration the condition of ships under distress.

India’s coast guard intercepted the ship off the coast of Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu in October 2013 and arrested and charged the crew for failing to have the proper paperwork to carry weapons in Indian waters. Subsequently, the Court had quashed the charges under the provisions of the Arms Act.

David Cameron made a personal appeal to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi when the latter visited the United Kingdom in November a year ago. “As per government of India orders, any vessel that carries arms and ammunition is required to declare that fact”, said Chennai-based retired commodore R S Vasan, head strategy and security studies of Centre for Asia Studies. The vessel was escorted to the VOC Chi dambaranar Port in Tuticorin.

Subsequently, all the crew members, who were arrested by Tamil Nadu police on October 18, 2014, had been granted conditional bail by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court in March, 2014.

The police and Coast Guard officials were taken aback by the quantity of arms and ammunition stored in the ship.