Checking US claim on Indian vessel in sailors spat: Govt

A day after US Army officials claimed that the 15 British marines, detained by Iran

A day after US Army officials claimed that the 15 British marines, detained by Iran, were checking an Indian-flagged vessel with a consignment of cars in the disputed Shatt al-Arab waterway last week when the Iranian navy seized them, the Indian government has disputed the claim, though it is still trying to get the ‘details’.

“We have not found any truth so far in the claim that the ship in question was an Indian-flagged vessel. We have a scanning system that can track the location of all registered Indian vessels in international waters and there may be a few Indian ships around the said waters. But there is no proof yet to establish that the British marines were on board an Indian ship when they were detained. Further investigations are being done,” Shipping Secretary A K Mahapatra said.

Soon after the reported involvement of an Indian ship in the Iran-Britain face-off over the detained British marines, the government had sought information from its embassies in Iran and Iraq. “Iran says the vessel was in its waters, Iraq claims the vessel was in their territory. But we have not got any details yet,” Mahapatra said.

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However, the Shipping Secretary added, “the US has got the details and had informed Britain about it (the British operation may have been conducted on the basis of this in the first place), but are not disclosing them.” The Indian Embassy in Washington has been requested to seek details from the US administration. Foreign Ministry sources confirmed that the Indian Embassy at Tehran had no information yet on the vessel or its whereabouts.

While the Shipping Ministry has asked the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) to further investigate the matter, there is a possibility that the vessel in question may be an unregistered dhow, a small sailing vessel. The government’s scanning system doesn’t keep track of these. Last year, an Indian dhow was caught off the Somalian coast carrying contraband. Following this, the Centre had instructed state governments to ensure that all ships operating from their coasts have official registration.

“There are some unregistered small vessels/dhows operating off the West coast that are usually involved in activities like smuggling contraband. While we are not certain yet, our conjecture is that the vessel in question may be a dhow,” Mahapatra said.

DGS officials in Mumbai said their vessel tracking system had found three Indian ships in the Shat-Al-Arab area. “We have contacted the companies that own these ships, but we are yet to get a response,” a senior official said. The official, however, refused to divulge the particulars of the ships. The DGS has also sent a letter to the Indian Embassy in Tehran to find out the details of the case.

(with inputs from Rakshit Sonawane in Mumbai)