Refuting the claim of the Enrica Lexie crew that a suspected pirate attack led to last week’s fatal shooting of Indian fishermen, a Coast Guard preliminary report says the vessel never had a graduated response plan against piracy and that it violated basic maritime rules and guidelines.
According to the Coast Guard report, the ship violated the Alert Embankment Guidelines issued by the International Maritime Organisation. The AEG stipulates that armed security personnel or private maritime security companies on board should provide a detailed graduated response plan to a pirate attack as part of its operational procedures, but this was not done.
IMO regulations say armed personnel should take all reasonable steps to avoid use of force. “If force is used, it should be in a manner consistent with applicable law. In no case should the use of force exceed what is strictly necessary, and in all cases it should be proportionate ... and appropriate to the situation,” it said.
The report made it clear the Italians failed to resort to graduate use of force. “Use of force by the vessel is illegal since the fishing vessel St Antony was 100 metres from the vessel and was not making attempts at boarding the vessel, and there was also no threat to life on board Enrica Lexie,” it said.
According to the Coast Guard, the incident could have been avoided had the vessel adhered to a response plan.
The email sent by the ship crew to the owners of the vessel, that the Indian authorities recovered, states that the fishing boat was about 100 metres from the vessel when the Italians opened fire.
“Motor tankers can easily do 18-20 knots... the vessel could have easily increased speed and overtaken the fishing boat as its speed was not more than 10 knots,” it said.