Suspicious ship with sat phone intercepted

Mumbai: A vessel that had sailed from Dubai and suspected to be carrying contraband items was seized off the Mumbai coast on Wednesday night by the Coast Guard and five Indian crew members have been detained for interrogation.

Intelligence agencies alerted the Coast Guard about a vessel that was off the Mumbai coast, with the crew communicating with a person in Dubai over a satellite phone. When the Coast Guard vessel neared the dhow � a traditional, Arab sailing vessel � the crew panicked and dumped the Thuraya phone into the sea.

A Coast Guard spokesman said that some contraband was seized from the vessel. He, however, did not confirm the presence of narcotics. But rummaging operations were on and sniffer dogs had also been brought in for the search operations, he added.

The MSV Yusufi, the Dubai dhow, was seized about 35 nautical miles off the Mumbai coast. Besides the contraband, there were 30 goats on board. Some of the dead animals were dumped into the sea by the crew.

Last year, the director-general of shipping had sent a circular to all shipping companies informing them about the ban on the use of satellite phones including Thuraya and Iridium in India. The government gives permission for use of satphones on a case-by-case basis and shipping firms have to take special permission if their crew has to use the gadgets in Indian waters.

The government imposed a ban on satphones after terrorists were found entering the country with the handsets and communicating with their handlers across the borders. The 26/11 terrorists in Mumbai were also being given instructions by their handlers in Pakistan over satphones.

Smuggling of gold and other contraband into India by dhows has been on the wane in recent years, especially after liberalisation of foreign exchange rules. In the past, when India's foreign exchange reserves were low and imports of consumer goods were banned, smugglers had thriving rackets, sending contraband by boats to the western coast.

But last year the government hiked the import duty on gold, making the yellow metal dearer in India. Consequently, there has been a spurt in the number of instances of gold being smuggled in. The latest instance of seizure of a dhow could signal the revival of the old traditional smuggling route across the Arabian Sea, say analysts.