Did guards fire on captain's order ?

Can armed guards deployed on a merchant ship open fire without the permission of its captain?

That is the question being raised in shipping circles after armed guards on board the Italian ship Enrica Lexie shot two fishermen off the Kerala coast last week, mistaking them for pirates.

This, even as there is no official word on whether the guards were indeed following the captain's orders. Reacting to the incident, Mr Abdulgani Sarang, General Secretary of the National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI), said regulations by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the Government of India on deploying armed guards do not cover this aspect.

“Who is the final authority on board a ship? Is it the captain or the guard?” Mr Sarang questioned. Acknowledging that the circumstances under which the guards opened fire can be ascertained only after an enquiry, he pointed out that the incident raises serious questions.

“What happens if trigger-happy guards have an altercation with the crew?” he asked.

Capt J.C. Anand, Chairman Emeritus, Indian Register of Shipping, and a master mariner for about 40 years, said the captain is the final authority to take any decision on board a ship.

According to him, whenever an emergency occurs, men on board should consult the captain and follow his instruction.

“He (captain) is the final authority. His word is final and it is applicable to armed guards too,” he added. Capt Anand said there is no need for interpretation of the IMO or any other guidelines on this issue. Another dimension to the incident is that the armed men on the Italian ship were not private security guards. They were Italian naval personnel on deputation. This could create other legal issues, said a shipping company official.

Vessel shifted

Meanwhile, the tanker Enrica Lexie has been shifted to the outer channel of the Kochi port on Monday morning. The Port Marine Department steered the vessel to the outer channel from the Cochin Oil Terminal. The shifting would enable the BPCL Kochi Refinery (KR) to berth other vessels waiting at the outer channel with crude for the last two days.

Detention of the Italian vessel at the oil terminal maintained by BPCL-KR had hampered normal functioning of the terminal since Thursday night. Earlier, Kochi City Police had given permission to shift the tanker. Though the ship was shifted to the outer channel, it will be put under the strict surveillance of the Navy and the Coast Guard, senior police officials said.

According to senior port officials, the port will have to recover the expenditure such as berth hire, port dues and pilotage from the Italian ship for the three days. This is estimated to be around Rs 20 lakh. The Italian shipping company has appointed an agent in Kochi for making the payments.

Naval guards under police custody - PTI adds from Kollam: Two Italian naval guards charged with the killing of two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast were today remanded to three-day police custody by a Judicial Magistrate at Karunagapally in this district.

The First-Class Judicial Magistrate, Mr K.P. Joy, at whose residence the marines were produced amid tight security, remanded the two accused to the judicial custody till March 5, but handed them over to investigators accepting a police plea for further questioning. The marines could not be produced in a court as it was a holiday due to Mahashivratri festival. Mr Latore Massimiliano and Mr Salvatore Girone, were arrested by the Kerala Police yesterday and brought ashore from the ship which was intercepted and anchored at the port, were brought to Kollam for court proceedings from Kochi.

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