American Company Advanfort International Inc, whose Ship MV Seaman Guard Ohio has been detained by India and its crew arrested, has criticized the Indian Action terming it inappropriate and said that it was exploring legal as well as diplomatic solution.
Read: Police Arrests Crew of detained US Ship Seaman Guard Ohio
“Our vessel Seaman Guard OHIO has been detained in Tuticorin and 35 of our crew and guards are being held. We believe the entire issue is inappropriate, because we were asked to come into Indian territorial waters by the Indian Coast Guard, while we were outside the Indian territorial waters where we were operating”, William H Watson, president of AdvanFort, was quoted saying.
Washington based Advanfort  specializes in providing Maritime Security to Merchant Ships in a bid to protect them from Pirates. AdvanFort would represent its case before the Indian court.
The Ship was detained because it did not declare the Ammunitions to Indian Officials, as part of mandatory protocol. However Advanfort officials claim that all arms and weapons are completely legal and registered.
Justifying the arrests, India’s Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh stated : “The vessel was stopped by our coast guard in consideration of issues relating to the presence of arms, ammunition, and armed guards on board without the necessary authorization. (…) Cases have been filed with regards to the Arms Act and the Essential Commodities Act. Basic information on this case has been shared in routine course with U.S. Embassy representatives.
Indian Authorities maintained that MV Seaman Guard Ohio entered Indian waters intentionally.  “One of their intentions was to procure fuel. Transfer of fuel, suspected to be subsidised diesel in this case, within the Customs Waters (24 nautical miles) can amount to smuggling (…) The question of escaping from Cyclone Phailin does not arise as the cyclone had no impact in that area. The crew had full knowledge that the vessel was entering Indian territory.”, said Inspector-General and Commander Coast-Guard (Region East) Satya Prakash Sharma.