“The Indian fishermen were not warned to move away by the US Navy,” General Dahi Khalfan said, according to the Khaleej Times daily. “The crew … told the Dubai police that they did not move toward the ship and instead attempted to avoid it.”
“According to our findings and the testimony of the injured, I believe that they [the fishermen] told the truth,” the daily quoted Khalfan as saying.
India had urged the UAE to investigate the shooting.
Khalfan criticized the way the US ship dealt with the incident, saying it had moved into international waters right after the shooting, thus moving out of UAE jurisdiction. Dubai police will deal with the case as a “murder,” he said.
US defense officials said the fishing boat, Tharath, had ignored warnings not to approach the refueling ship USNS Rappa-hannock, and that sailors on board the American vessel feared the speeding small boat could pose a threat.
“Since 2000 we’ve been very concerned about small boats,” a defense official said, referring to the year of a deadly suicide bomb attack by Al-Qaeda against the destroyer USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden. That attack killed 17 US sailors.
The fisherman who was killed was Indian, as were all three injured. Two uninjured men on the boat were both Emiratis.
A description of the incident posted online by the US Navy indicated a security team aboard the Rappahannock began issuing warnings when the boat was about 900 yards away and opened fire about 60 seconds later when the boat had closed to within 100 yards of the ship. The Navy said the fishing boat was making 20 to 25 knots and was headed directly for the Rappahannock.
Muthu Muniraj, 28, one of the injured Indians, said the fishermen saw the American vessel from far away. “When we came close, we slowed down to let them pass [in front of the fishing boat] to avoid any accidents. Once we crossed them from behind, they started firing at us. Usually, we know alarms and sirens are sounded by ships. But there were no warnings.”
Nancy Powell, the US ambassador to India, has expressed regret for the loss of life and assured Indian officials the US government will conduct a full investigation.
The Rappahannock is a 31,000-ton refueling ship. It is not a combat vessel and carries only minimal armament.
The Indian who was killed was planning to return to India soon and was due to be married in three months.
In Iran, Kayhan, an ultra-hardline daily, speculated the Rappahannock might have fired on the fishing boat intentionally because it wanted to deter attacks on US vessels.