The security guards protect merchant ships passing through in the Somali Basin, Gulf of Aden, and other areas where Somali pirates have attacked ships and taken crew, ship and cargo hostage. Since security teams have been deployed, the Somali pirates have not successfully taken a ship with armed teams aboard.

“We routinely position our vessels in shipping lanes,” said Watson. “We embark our security teams on westbound vessels headed into the high risk areas, and we recover our teams coming through on eastbound transits. Our crews transfer by means of a Zodiac.”

 

Fuel

“Normally we take bunkers (fuel) on at sea. This time, with a typhoon moving through, which was affecting sea state dramatically, we moved closer to land. We were still outside of Indian territorial waters, but the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and navy have been asserting their authority for enforcement of environmental regulations within their EEZ (exclusive economic zone),” Watson said.

Watson says the irony of the situation is that while the ship and the security teams sit in port, vessels are crossing the Indian Ocean and going through the piracy-prone waters without protection, and that many of the seafarers on those ships are Indian nationals.

“In this case, our bunkers dealer may not have had all of the requisite permits, and so the ship was required to enter the port of Tuticorin,” Watson said. Tuticorin is in Tamil Nadu province in South India.

“Our security teams had weapons with them on board – all properly purchased, licensed and permitted. But since the Mumbai terrorist attacks the Indian government has been concerned about weapons, with good reason, and is conducting a thorough audit. We are cooperating fully, and that audit is still under way.  We want to satisfy all of their questions and get back to sea.  We have vessels that are not able to get their security teams on board and they are making the transit at risk.”

Watson said both his company and Indian authorities are wary of potentially dishonest fuel suppliers. “There have been instances of fraud involving bunkers and marine diesel, where you think you are getting high-grade fuel but in fact receive contaminated fuel. That happened to us not long ago and our vessel required dry docking.”

Watson says the irony of the situation is that while the ship and the security teams sit in port, vessels are crossing the Indian Ocean and going through the piracy-prone waters without protection, and that many of the seafarers on those ships are Indian nationals.

AdvanFort issued a statement, stating “the management of AdvanFort International, Inc. wishes to thank and commend the Indian Coast Guard, port officials at Tuticorin and the Tamil Nadu police for allowing our vessel, Seaman Guard Ohio, to enter the port both to take on fuel and to escape the effects of Typhoon Phailin.”

“We’re not upset with the Indian Coast Guard or the Indian Government, or the local port authorities,” Watson said. “We welcome the Indian government’s crackdown on unscrupulous fuel dealers.”