While the Shipping Ministry has asked the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) to further investigate the matter, there is a possibility that the vessel in question may be an unregistered dhow, a small sailing vessel. The government’s scanning system doesn’t keep track of these. Last year, an Indian dhow was caught off the Somalian coast carrying contraband. Following this, the Centre had instructed state governments to ensure that all ships operating from their coasts have official registration.

“There are some unregistered small vessels/dhows operating off the West coast that are usually involved in activities like smuggling contraband. While we are not certain yet, our conjecture is that the vessel in question may be a dhow,” Mahapatra said.

DGS officials in Mumbai said their vessel tracking system had found three Indian ships in the Shat-Al-Arab area. “We have contacted the companies that own these ships, but we are yet to get a response,” a senior official said. The official, however, refused to divulge the particulars of the ships. The DGS has also sent a letter to the Indian Embassy in Tehran to find out the details of the case.

(with inputs from Rakshit Sonawane in Mumbai)