KOCHI: Georgiannakis Ioannis, the captain of the Panama-flagged merchant vessel Amber L involved in the mid-sea collision of June 11, told cops on Wednesday the crew had realised the ship had collided with the fishing boat but left without stopping. Earlier, Ioannis - a Greek national - and other staff had denied knowledge of the collision.
The Coastal Police officers said second officer Galanos Athanasios, another Greek national and Zewana, a Myanmar national and a seaman on the ship, also backtracked from their earlier statements during rigorous questioning conducted after the police were allowed to take them into custody by the court the other day.
The police custody will end on Thursday when the trio will be presented before the Thoppumpady Court. The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court will hear their bail plea on Friday. They were arrested on June 30. Two persons were killed while one went missing in the mid-sea collision which occurred 14 nautical miles off the Kochi coast.