![Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Nathan Gage Ingram [left] and Chief Special Warfare Operator Christopher J. Chambers [right] died during a boarding operation on Jan. 11, 2024.](https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Seals-x2.jpg?quality=85&w=1929)
A federal judge sentenced a Pakistani man to 40 years in prison on Thursday for charges relating to the death of two Navy SEALs who drowned in the Arabian Sea while attempting to board the man’s boat in 2024. Muhammad Pahlawan was the captain of an unflagged vessel that SEALs seized in January 2024 as it smuggled Iranian arms to Houthi rebels.
Chief Special Warfare Operator Christopher Chambers, 37, slipped and fell into the water during the raid, weighed down by heavy equipment. Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Nathan Gage Ingram, 27, jumped in to save Chambers, but also drowned.
Pahlawan was convicted over the summer on several charges, according to court records, including conspiring to provide material support and resources to a terrorist organization, providing material support to Iran’s weapons of mass destruction program and threatening his crew.
On the night of Jan. 11, 2024, Navy SEALs and Coast Guardsmen boarded Pahlawan’s boat in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Somalia. The ship was found to be transporting ballistic and anti-ship missile parts, as well as a warhead.
Earlier this year, Ingram was posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his attempts to save his teammate.
Ten days following the incident, the Navy called off a search for the men and declared the SEALs dead. A Navy investigation released months later found that the SEALs’ deaths were preventable, and that turbulent waters and training failures — specifically floatation and buoyancy requirements — contributed to the incident.
The most ‘sketchy’ missions
A former SEAL told Task & Purpose in the wake of the mishap that boarding ships in the open ocean, particularly at night, was the most “sketchy” skill that he had practiced as a SEAL. He considered such missions, known as Visit, Board, Search and Seizure, or VBSS, more dangerous than even freefall parachuting or underwater diving operations.
“It’s the sketchiest thing I did in the teams,” the former SEAL told Task & Purpose. “Everything is slippery, it’s dark, everything is moving, it’s f**king cold so you can’t feel sh*t.”
Pahlawan did not stop the boat as the boarding team approached and unsuccessfully instructed his crew to burn the “dhow” (a masted boat) as his vessel was described in court documents. He also lied to the boarding team by claiming he was not the captain. American forces apprehended 14 people from the boat and transported them onto the expeditionary sea base ship USS Lewis B. Puller.
Stars and Stripes first reported Pahlawan’s sentencing. He worked with two Iranian brothers in the scheme — which went back to at least 2023 — to get resources to the Houthis, according to court records. He was convicted in June.
Pahlawan was sentenced for multiple crimes, including aiding and abetting weapons of mass destruction threats to the United States, conspiring to commit violence against maritime transports and witness tampering.
