A Thai navy patrol ship rescued 23 crewmen from a Thai trawler off the Somalia coast on November 4, which was robbed by pirates and then sunk by gunfire from another unknown vessel, according to Thai media reports.
On November 2 'Sirichai Nava 11', a Yemen-registered Thai fishing vessel from Sirichai Fisheries, was seized by Somali pirates about 15 nautical miles from the coast of Yemen and 360 nautical miles from where Thai naval operations centre were located.
HTMS 'Pattani', one of the two Thai ships taking part in the 28-country anti-piracy mission, was immediately despatched on a rescue mission, says the Bangkok Post.
HTMS 'Pattani' arrived in the area on November 3 but did not see the fishing vessel, however on the next day a helicopter search team located the survivors, which included seven Thai and 15 Cambodia crew and one Yemeni policeman. Still missing were one Thai crewman and four Yemeni policemen, says the Bangkok Post.
Crewmembers reported that pirates forced the fishing vessel to sail toward the Somali coast, when the fishing vessel was hit by gun shots from another boat of an unknown nationality and sunk.
This is the second Sirichai Fisheries vessel to be sunk by gunfire. On November 19, 2008, India claimed victory that its Navy frigate 'INS Tabar' had gunned down a Somali pirate "mother ship", which turned out to be a Sirichai trawler, 'Ekawatnava 5'.
Source: Bangkok Post, Ecoterra News
