Italian tankship whose marines allegedly killed Indian fishermen mistakenly as pirates, to post bond, then can leave Kochi Port

Nearly six weeks after marines on board the Enrica Lexie allegedly killed two fishermen, mistaking them for pirates, the Kerala High Court has cleared the decks for Italian tanker Enrica Lexie to leave Kochi if the ship's owners furnished a bond of Rs 3 crore, according to a report in the Times of India newspaper.

The High Court also directed Dolphin Tankers, Enrica's owners, to furnish an undertaking that the ship, which has been detained off Cochin port since February 15, would be produced before any competent authority in India on a notice of three weeks. The Italian marines, however, were still under arrest, pending further hearings of the trial.

Advocate general K P Dandapani had argued that the ship and the crew shouldn't be allowed to leave the country as the vessel had to be searched again if forensic report raises doubts that evidence was tampered with, but was denied..