Tanker captain charged following collision with fishing boat in Arabian Sea off India

Police in Vizhinjam in India's Kerala state have formally charged the captain of a foreign-flagged commercial ship in connection with a collision with another vessel in the Arabian Sea late last week.

The master of the Panama-registered chemical tanker Solis has been charged with negligence following reports that his vessel rammed the Indian trawler St Joseph while the latter was at anchor approximately 120 nautical miles off the coast in the early afternoon (local time) of Saturday, March 7.

The trawler became heavily damaged and sank within minutes, though nine of her crew were brought aboard the tanker shortly afterwards.