Mistake Cited in Sinking of Boat by India - The Thai fishing trawler blasted out of the water by the Indian Navy in the Gulf of Aden last week
By MARK MCDONALD
HONG KONG — The Thai fishing trawler blasted out of the water by the Indian Navy in the Gulf of Aden last week had been taken over by pirates earlier that day, the boat’s owner said Wednesday, in a harrowing account that suggests that the sinking was a case of mistaken identity.
Only one of the 16 crewmen on board is known to have survived; he reported that six or seven others had been shot dead by the Indian ship.
The Indian Navy has defended its actions, noting that it fired only after being fired on.
“It is to be kept in mind that the trawler was under the command of the pirates,” Reuters reported Pranab Mukherjee, India’s foreign minister, as saying Wednesday in New Delhi.
“As per international law and practice followed by every country in the high seas, if the pirates do not surrender and if the ships or vessel is sunk, it is perfectly within the right as per international law,” he said.
The new account came from Wicharn Sirichaiekawat, the managing director of Sirichai Fisheries, which owns the boat. In a telephone interview from Bangkok, he said the trawler, the Ekawat Nava 5, with a crew of 16, was hijacked on the morning of Nov. 18.
He said that the company immediately reported the hijacking and the location of the boat, which had a tracking device, to the International Maritime Bureau in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the clearinghouse for piracy reports.
The bureau broadcast the news of the hijacking to various ports, other ships in the area and the coalition of navies that helps maintain a maritime security corridor in the gulf.
“We got the report and sent out the information,” said Noel Choong, chief of the piracy reporting center. “The Thai company did the correct thing.”
A British Navy ship then approached the trawler, but the pirates “brought out our crew and used them as human shields,” Mr. Wicharn said. The warship backed away, he said. “They said they couldn’t do anything because they feared for the safety of the crew.”
But about 7 p.m., with darkness closing in, the Indian warship Tabar, which had been escorting Indian merchant ships in the gulf, approached and demanded that the trawler stop to be investigated.
It was not clear on Wednesday whether the Indian Navy had received any of the alerts about the hijacking.
“This vessel was similar in description to the ‘mother vessel’ mentioned in various piracy bulletins,” the Indian Navy said Wednesday in a statement. “Mother ships” are oceangoing boats, often large fishing trawlers, that tow or carry speedboats. These faster and more nimble boats are deployed to attack and hijack commercial vessels.
The pirates said they would blow up the Tabar if it moved closer, and the navy statement said pirates with rocket-propelled grenade launchers were seen on deck. Then, the navy said, the Tabar was fired upon.
The Indian ship returned fire, resulting in explosions on the fishing boat. Two speedboats broke away, the statement said. One of the speedboats was later found abandoned. The other has eluded the authorities.
“Insofar as we are concerned, both its description and its intent were that of a pirate ship,” The Associated Press reported an Indian Navy spokesman, Cmdr. Nirad Sinha, as saying of the trawler. “Only after we were fired upon did we fire. We fired in self-defense. There were gun-toting guys with R.P.G.’s on it.”
The sole member of the fishing crew known to have survived is a Cambodian seaman who was picked up by Yemeni fishermen. The man, clinging to a metal barrel, had drifted for five days and 100 miles. He is recuperating in Yemen “and still very frightened,” Mr. Wicharn said.
“We’re still looking for the rest of the crew,” he said. “The survivor saw some of the crew jump into the sea.”
He added, “We’re looking for some kind of responsibility now from India, something.” He said Foreign Ministry officials and diplomats from both countries were discussing the matter. “The Indians claim we were a pirate ship,” Mr. Wicharn said. “They say they have pictures, and we’ve asked them to show them. Maybe there’s some misunderstanding.”
HONG KONG — The Thai fishing trawler blasted out of the water by the Indian Navy in the Gulf of Aden last week had been taken over by pirates earlier that day, the boat’s owner said Wednesday, in a harrowing account that suggests that the sinking was a case of mistaken identity.
Only one of the 16 crewmen on board is known to have survived; he reported that six or seven others had been shot dead by the Indian ship.
The Indian Navy has defended its actions, noting that it fired only after being fired on.
“It is to be kept in mind that the trawler was under the command of the pirates,” Reuters reported Pranab Mukherjee, India’s foreign minister, as saying Wednesday in New Delhi.
“As per international law and practice followed by every country in the high seas, if the pirates do not surrender and if the ships or vessel is sunk, it is perfectly within the right as per international law,” he said.
The new account came from Wicharn Sirichaiekawat, the managing director of Sirichai Fisheries, which owns the boat. In a telephone interview from Bangkok, he said the trawler, the Ekawat Nava 5, with a crew of 16, was hijacked on the morning of Nov. 18.
He said that the company immediately reported the hijacking and the location of the boat, which had a tracking device, to the International Maritime Bureau in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the clearinghouse for piracy reports.
The bureau broadcast the news of the hijacking to various ports, other ships in the area and the coalition of navies that helps maintain a maritime security corridor in the gulf.
“We got the report and sent out the information,” said Noel Choong, chief of the piracy reporting center. “The Thai company did the correct thing.”
A British Navy ship then approached the trawler, but the pirates “brought out our crew and used them as human shields,” Mr. Wicharn said. The warship backed away, he said. “They said they couldn’t do anything because they feared for the safety of the crew.”
But about 7 p.m., with darkness closing in, the Indian warship Tabar, which had been escorting Indian merchant ships in the gulf, approached and demanded that the trawler stop to be investigated.
It was not clear on Wednesday whether the Indian Navy had received any of the alerts about the hijacking.
“This vessel was similar in description to the ‘mother vessel’ mentioned in various piracy bulletins,” the Indian Navy said Wednesday in a statement. “Mother ships” are oceangoing boats, often large fishing trawlers, that tow or carry speedboats. These faster and more nimble boats are deployed to attack and hijack commercial vessels.
The pirates said they would blow up the Tabar if it moved closer, and the navy statement said pirates with rocket-propelled grenade launchers were seen on deck. Then, the navy said, the Tabar was fired upon.
The Indian ship returned fire, resulting in explosions on the fishing boat. Two speedboats broke away, the statement said. One of the speedboats was later found abandoned. The other has eluded the authorities.
“Insofar as we are concerned, both its description and its intent were that of a pirate ship,” The Associated Press reported an Indian Navy spokesman, Cmdr. Nirad Sinha, as saying of the trawler. “Only after we were fired upon did we fire. We fired in self-defense. There were gun-toting guys with R.P.G.’s on it.”
The sole member of the fishing crew known to have survived is a Cambodian seaman who was picked up by Yemeni fishermen. The man, clinging to a metal barrel, had drifted for five days and 100 miles. He is recuperating in Yemen “and still very frightened,” Mr. Wicharn said.
“We’re still looking for the rest of the crew,” he said. “The survivor saw some of the crew jump into the sea.”
He added, “We’re looking for some kind of responsibility now from India, something.” He said Foreign Ministry officials and diplomats from both countries were discussing the matter. “The Indians claim we were a pirate ship,” Mr. Wicharn said. “They say they have pictures, and we’ve asked them to show them. Maybe there’s some misunderstanding.”
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