MV Assa, an Iranian merchant ship, had been used as a base from which to dispatch armed protection units onto Iranian-flagged vessels about to navigate through pirate-infested waters.
The exposure of the Assa reveals that Iran has actually been posting armed guards on its tankers and freighters and not providing a warship as a military escort as it has long claimed.
“It [the ship] has been in our EEZ [exclusive economic zone] for some time. It had initially reported that it had anchored for certain material problems it had and was to be repaired,” said Indian Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma.
According to the Indian Express, the ship had been under constant electronic and visual surveillance for about a month, which revealed that the ship served as an embarkation platform for anti-piracy guards.
The sight of armed men moving on and off a merchant ship alarmed the Indian Navy and touched off an Indian diplomatic flurry.
It isn’t clear why Iran did not just tell India what it was doing in the first place instead of claiming the Assa was disabled. There is nothing illegal about what Iran is doing.
The Indian Navy, tasked with the protection of the Indian EEZ, had “buzzed” the Iranian ship a month ago, in response to which the Assa had shifted its position. But it returned to its initial spot soon after.
The Indian Express reported that Tehran has now agreed to permanently move the ship after repeated protests from India.
The Assa is owned and operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), a company under international sanctions.
The ship’s presence in the Indian EEZ is not illegal. The EEZ is international waters. Only the resources on the seabed belong exclusively to India.
A few merchant ships navigating pirate-infested waters have carried armed protection teams onboard. Iran has never announced it was doing that. To the contrary, Iran says it sends armed warships to accompany merchant vessels passing Somalia. Since it only has two ships on station at a time, that has always sounded like an impossibility.
A news report when Iran first started its announced convoy service said the Iranian Navy was not escorting ships off Somalia but simply ferrying armed guards to merchant ships and tankers at one end of the pirate zone and then picking them up at the other end.
Iran may not have announced what it was doing because most sea service companies oppose carrying armed guards and engaging in exchanges of gunfire with pirates. The idea of a convoy service also makes the Iranian Navy look more impressive than merely operating a ferry for armed guards.
The Assa has been anchored near the Lakshadweep Islands off India’s west coast. It wasn’t clear what pirate zone the Assa was covering. It was far to the east of Somali pirate zone and far to the west of Strait of Malacca pirate area.
The Indian Express reported last month that the Assa “has made no proper contact with Indian authorities,… is behaving unusually secretively, and has not sought any help from India” and that “the smaller boats visiting the ship have not communicated with India either.”
The article said, “In May, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that the Yemeni navy had driven out an Iranian ship by the name Assa after it made a ‘stopover’ off the Yemeni port of Lahj. The report said that the Yemeni navy had tried to communicate with the captain and, having failed, sent out naval boats which led to the ship leaving the area.”
