A suspected pirate vessel that was destroyed by India's INS Tabar last week in the Gulf of Aden was in fact a Thai fishing trawler which had been hijacked.
KUALA LUMPUR/BANGKOK: A suspected pirate vessel that was destroyed by India's INS Tabar last week in the Gulf of Aden was in fact a Thai fishing trawler which had been hijacked, a maritime bureau confirmed Wednesday.
Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center, said one Thai crew member died when the Indian frigate attacked the trawler on
November 18 in pirate-infested waters near Somalia.
The vessel is now believed to be the Ekawat Nava 5, registered in Kiribati, an island nation in the South Pacific, but owned by Thai national Wicharn Sirichaiekawat.
Thailand has sought a clarification from the Indian Navy on its rules of engagement in sinking the Thai vessel.
"We have asked the Indian authorities to help us verify the ownership of the vessel and then clarify their rules of engagement," said Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat.
The Indian Navy's attack was earlier heralded as heroic and several maritime bodies felt that navies patrolling in the region should take cue and be active like INS Tabar.
Fourteen crew members are still missing while a Cambodian sailor was rescued four days back, Choong said.
The Bureau received a report about the mistake by the Indian Navy from the Thai trawler's owner Bangkok-based Sirichai Fisheries.
"The Indian Navy assumed it was a pirate vessel because they may have seen armed pirates on board the boat which has been hijacked earlier," Choong said.
Choong said Sirichai Fisheries found out about the mishap after speaking to the Cambodian sailor, who is in a hospital in yemem.
"We are sad by the incident and it is unfortunate," Choong said and hoped that the incident will not affect anti-piracy operation by the multi-coalition navies there.
The Thai Foreign Ministry said it was convinced the "pirate ship" was in fact the Ekawat Nava 5 because the owner of the vessel lost contact with his ship on Nov 18 while it was in the Gulf of Aden and one of the crewmen, a Cambodian, who survived the attack has provided details of the incident from his hospital bed in Yemen, Tharit said.
According to Wicharn, the ship had a crew of 16 on board when it was attacked, including one Cambodian and 15 Thais. He said the ship was travelling from Oman to Yemen to deliver fishing equipment when it was first attacked by pirates and then attacked by the Indian Navy.
"The ship was raided by pirates, and all of the crew members were tied up when the Indian Navy attacked, according to the survivor," Tharit said.
Thailand has sought a clarification from Indian authorities on whether the Indian Navy frigate attempted to assist any of the survivors after it fired on the vessel and eventually sank it.
"We are still awaiting their answer," Tharit said.
The Indian government said last week that it sank a pirate vessel after it fired on the INS Tabar.
INS Tabar had spotted a pirate vessel 285 nautical miles or 528 km southwest of Salalah, Oman, and asked the vessel to stop for investigations, it said.
The vessel's response "was that she would blow up the naval warship if it closed in on her", a government statement said.
"Pirates were seen roaming on the upper deck... with guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers," it said. "The vessel continued its threatening calls and subsequently fired on INS Tabar."
The Indian warship retaliated, leading to a fire and an explosion on the other vessel.
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