Dubai: A group of nine sailors has been accused of refueliing ships at the sea off Dubai shores.
The Dubai Court of First Instance heard on Thursday that two Iranian captains and six sailors (three Iranians and three Indians) were illegally transferring diesel to a ship in the middle of the sea in July this year.
According to the Dubai Court of First Instance, the Coast Guard patrol received a call from the command room to conduct a check in this connection in the area.
An Emirati soldier testified they received the coordinates and two boats went to the area at 1.36pm.
“We saw a boat refueling a ship through pipes. The boat withdrew the pipes and tried to escape but we stopped them and asked the sailors for their IDs. They claimed they didn’t have any documents,” said the Emirati soldier in official records.
The officers went to the ship to check the sailors’ papers when the boat moved to the north.
“They swerved and hit our boat from the left side and escaped to the north. We chased them but they didn’t stop,” the solider added.
After two warning shots in the air, the boat stopped and the sailors with their captain were arrested and brought to Dubai.
According to Dubai Public Prosecution, the 21-year-old Indian sailor on the ship admitted they bought the fuel from the boat as per instructions of the 34-year-old Iranian captain.
All defendants went into custody at the Ports Police Station.
Four of the defendants were charged with illegally entering the country without documents or entry permits.
The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for September 21.
