BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) – Fourteen sailors are still missing from a Thai trawler that was sunk last week by the Indian navy as a suspected pirate ship, the vessel’s owner said Tuesday.
One crewman was found alive after six days adrift in the Gulf of Aden, and one is confirmed dead, said Wicharn Sirichaiekawat, owner of the Ekawat Nava 5.
Last week, India’s navy reported that the frigate INS Tabar had battled a pirate “mother vessel” in the gulf November 18, leaving the ship ablaze and likely sunk. Wicharn said that vessel was his ship, which was in the process of being seized by pirates when it came under fire.
Indian authorities insisted that their ship had acted against a pirate vessel which had threatened to attack the Tabar. “We fired in self-defense and in response to firing upon our vessel. It was a pirate vessel in the international waters and its stance was aggressive,” Commodore Nirad Sinha, a navy spokesman, told CNN. He said the ship the Tabar fired upon was laden with ammunition.
Wicharn told reporters that the Ekawat Nava 5 was headed from Oman to Yemen to deliver fishing equipment when it was set upon by pirates off the Horn of Africa. The pirates were seizing control of the ship when the Tabar moved in, he said. Wicharn said he learned the fate of his vessel from a Cambodian crew member who survived the gunfire and drifted in the ocean for six days before he was plucked to safety by a passing ship. The sailor was recovering in a hospital in Yemen, he said. Wicharn said his ship made a distress call on November 18 as it was chased by pirates in two speedboats, but the connection was lost midway. The owners, Sirichai Fisheries, had not heard from the crew since then. Later that evening, the Indian navy said it encountered a suspected pirate “mother vessel,” with two speedboats in tow, about 285 nautical miles (525 km) southwest of the Omani port of Salalah. “Mother vessels” are often used as mobile bases to ferry pirates and smaller attack boats into deep water.
When the Tabar’s crew hailed the ship and demanded it stop for inspection, the pirates threatened to destroy the Indian ship, the ministry reported.
Article proves that Indian navy was justified in sinking the ship.
Indian navy had no idea that the ship was already hijacked. When the Indian navy asked for boarding, the pirates started firing first and in self defense the hijacked ship was sunk.
Article proves that Indian navy was justified in sinking the ship.
Indian navy had no idea that the ship was already hijacked. When the Indian navy asked for boarding, the pirates started firing first and in self defense the hijacked ship was sunk.
Then i guess we'll just have to wait for the video to be released that proves that. Till then someone's vessel was sunken and Indian Navy is accountable for it.
PS: US video taped their encounter with Iranians, so did the british. Did India do the same?
Article proves that Indian navy was justified in sinking the ship.
Indian navy had no idea that the ship was already hijacked. When the Indian navy asked for boarding, the pirates started firing first and in self defense the hijacked ship was sunk.
It's probably a matter of personnel quality, but when Somali pirates fired on British naval forces earlier in the month the British killed one and captured the rest without sinking the boat.
LOL... Indian navy rescues crew under attack by pirates by sinking their ship and leaving them stranded at sea. What heroes :D
I'm sure glad that I've never needed to be "rescued" by the Indian navy.... hahahahahahaha
Oh this gets better. When Britain’s navy came across a ship being hijacked by Somali pirates they they killed one pirate and captured the rest.
When India’s Navy of heroes comes across a ship being hijacked by pirates… they sink the ship and leave 15 innocent men stranded at sea, with 14 still missing. What a glorious day for India. Jai Hind!
Pirates caught redhanded by one of Her Majesty’s warships after trying to hijack a cargo ship off Somalia made the grave mistake of opening fire on two Royal Navy assault craft packed with commandos armed with machineguns and SA80 rifles.
In the ensuing gunfight, two Somali pirates in a Yemeni-registered fishing dhow were killed, and a third pirate, believed to be a Yemeni, suffered injuries and subsequently died. It was the first time the Royal Navy had been engaged in a fatal shoot-out on the high seas in living memory.
By the time the Royal Marines boarded the pirates’ vessel, the enemy had lost the will to fight and surrendered quietly. The Royal Navy described the boarding as “compliant”.
Paki jealously & inferiority complex showing in this thread.
Indian Navy is responsible for the murder of those unarmed civilians who were onboard that vessel, and this is the best you can do when the news surfaces?
But then again India has mastered the art of blindly shooting (refer to Kashmir threads for more).
and how was the Indian navy supposed to know that the sailors were held captive inside the ship when there are a bunch of pirates on the deck waving RPG's & guns at them?
But again you Paki's have will always try to spin a story into anti-india propoganda to make yourselves feel better. (notice, that none of you posted the story of indian navy sinking a pirate ship before because it showed a positive india news)
and how was the Indian navy supposed to know that the sailors were held captive inside the ship when there are a bunch of pirates on the deck waving RPG's & guns at them?
But again you Paki's have will always try to spin a story into anti-india propoganda to make yourselves feel better. (notice, that none of you posted the story of indian navy sinking a pirate ship before because it showed a positive india news)
That's your defense? "You Pakis"? Seriously? Why're you having a heartburn over something that has nothing to do with Pakistan.
Why didn't Pakistanis post that story? "Pakistanis" weren't obligated to. You could have.
Look it's not your fault, you weren't the person in-charge, so why is it so hard for you to admit that some one made a booboo. Pride maybe? even if the facts say otherwise?
Like i said, we'll just wait for more facts to be unearthed. Right now we don't even know if Indian Navy made an attempt to contact the vessel's captain and ask for proper identity (common sense would encourage this step). Pakistanis follow protocol. Right now it's Indian Navy in hot waters (literally), and it happens to be international waters, so any and everyone has the right to say what they want/criticize or praise the act.
I would rather believe this version that you deliberately did not post in the first thread in an attempt to put an anti-india spin to the story:
“Pirates](http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Pirates) were seen roaming on the upper deck of this vessel with guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. The vessel continued its threatening calls and subsequently fired upon INS Tabar,” the ministry said.
The Indian frigate returned fire, setting the pirate ship ablaze and setting off explosions on board, the statement said."
I posted the story in good faith. Check my comments in the initial post.
The vessel was being held hostage, and Indian Navy decided to 'hmmm oh lets just sink the whole thing. It's a sure way to defeat the pirates.'
Bravoooo!!! :)
So, did the In. Navy make attempts to contact the vessel's captain? Or a strategy maybe? I sure hope this was a "last resort" solution because i have full faith in the professionalism of the Indian Navy and its commanding officers who actively patrol the international waters. :D
Okay! Target practice of an object big as a vessel?
Hopefully the Indian govt. doesn’t reply to the Thai Govt in the same manner. Because “world’s largest democracy” could be considered going rogue with that kinda attitude.
PS: You’re jumping the gun, and considering Indian Navy guilty of the act. Wouldn’t you rather wait and see more facts surface? Or bodies for that matter (i just couldn’t help it)
Actually it turns out that International Maritime Bureau had previously publicized that the ship had been hijacked and even provided coalition forces and other agencies with photographs of it.
India should leave pirate-hunting to professionals such as the coalition force who bother to set up links with civilian international bodies and cease its own, proven amateur efforts.
Choong said that photographs of the Thai vessel had been sent out to the coalition naval forces and other agencies when it was hijacked as “the fishing boat was actually an ideal mother vessel for the pirates.”
“The Indian navy may have not received this information as they are not part of the coalition forces and we have no direct link with them,” he said.
They should have followed protocal like the Pakistanis are following " protocal" with the drones. They keep on sending messages to the drones but they do not reply. Hence they are not able to shoot them.
First try to stop attacks on your own country then talk about “protocal”. Pakistan was never able to protect its territory … history has shown it.
Actually protocol is an interesting topic to bring up. I wonder how India's navy's protocols on engagement different from the coalition force's rule of engagement. Last time a coalition force vessel was attacked by pirates, they applied the minimum force needed, returning fire with small arms only, and and captured all but one pirate, who died.
The Indian navy was attacked and sank a boat leaving it blazing on fire (clearly they used the heavy cannon on board rather than just small arms) and leaving 14 innocent men unaccounted for and one innocent man floating in the water.
Which leaves a question... why was a man left in the water after the attack? Didn't the Indian navy spend time looking for any survivors from the sinking? The Tabar even has its own helicopters that would have helped. Or are Indian navy protocols to just come blasting in and then leave without fully checking for consequences?
Target practice of an object big as a vessel? 
