Chennai:
33 crew members of an American ship, detained for illegally entering Indian waters with a huge cache of arms, have been arrested and sent to 14-day judicial custody.
The MV Seaman Guard Ohio owned by US maritime security company AdvanFort was intercepted by the Coast Guard east of Tuticorin on Saturday.
Its crew includes eight Indians, besides British, Estonian and Ukranian nationals, but no Americans. Only two crew members were left on the ship for "maintenance." The arrested are likely to file for bail on Monday.
UK has sought consular access to the six British crew members and asked for a clarification on the charges against them.
The ship had reportedly been in Indian waters for three days before it was detected. According to the police, the crew broke several Indian laws and maintained no log of the arms on board.
The ship reportedly had 34 assault rifles and around 4,000 rounds of ammunition on board, which were seized by the Coast Guard. The weapons are currently with the Central Industrial Security Force or CISF.
The crew was also booked for refueling with 1,500 litres of diesel illegally bought from a local fishing boat.
The ship had reportedly been checked in Kochi about 45 days ago but no arms had been found at the time, say sources.
"My suspicion is that the boat is a floating armoury for private security agencies protecting against pirates," Deputy National Security Adviser Nehchal Sandhu had said earlier.
AdvanFort claims the ship entered the Indian waters to escape the fury of cyclone Phailin, but the vessel was detected far from where the cyclone hit Odisha and Andhra Pradesh last weekend.
The incident highlights the poorly regulated practice of private and military armed guards on ships for protection against pirate attacks.
In February last year, two Indian fishermen were allegedly shot dead by two Italian marines on an oil tanker off the Kerala coast. The marines are currently being prosecuted in India.