The defense lawyers of the arrested crewmembers of the Seaman Guard Ohio, a ship detained by the Indian coastguard, have filed a petition requesting that their clients be released on bail.

"A petition requesting a change in the measure of their restraint to bail has been filed. It is as yet unknown when this petition will be considered," Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Yevhen Perebyinis said on Thursday.

According to him, the citizens of Ukraine and all other arrested crewmembers of this ship were transferred to another prison, in the city of Chennai. The Ukrainian consul plans to visit them soon to check on their detention conditions.

As reported, on the night between October 11 and October 12, the Indian coastguard detained the Seaman Guard Ohio in the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka. According to official sources, the ship was detained to check whether there were any weapons on board and whether they had the documents necessary for the shipment of its cargo.

The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine reported that there were three citizens of Ukraine aboard - the captain, the chief engineer, and a security guard, who was arrested together with the rest of the security guards from the Seaman Guard Ohio.

The ministry denied media reports that the vessel with Ukrainians onboard was carrying a cargo of weapons, and said that there were only authorized weapons on the ship.