Thai company says INS Tabar sank its vessel

NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy is still crowing about how it sunk a Somali pirate 'mother ship' and families are celebrating the return of Indian sailors from the hijacked Stolt Valor. But it appears the Navy's hot pursuit off the Gulf of Aden may have led to some collateral damage.

A Thai ship-owner on Tuesday complained that one of his fishing trawlers was missing along with 14 sailors. He claimed it was the ship that Indian Navy's INS Tabar sunk last week as a suspected pirate ship.

Wicharn Sirichaiekawat, owner of the Ekawat Nava 5, claimed one Cambodian crewman was found alive after six days adrift in the Gulf of Aden, and one is confirmed dead. He said the vessel that was hit by the Tabar on November 18 was his ship, which was in the process of being seized by pirates when it came under fire The Navy insisted 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," said Commodore Nirad Sinha, a navy spokesman.

"We don't know in what context such claims were being made," he said, adding the ship that attacked the Tabar was laden with ammunition. He said that the ship, which was in pirate-infested waters, had threatened to blow itself up if the Tabar approached it and sought verification.

Indian officials had said sailors on the Tabar saw pirates roaming on the upper deck of the "mother vessel" with guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. The vessel fired on the Tabar and the Indian frigate returned fire, setting the pirate ship ablaze and setting off explosions on board.

Navy sources, however, said it was likely that the vessel was commandeered by pirates and the owners were now making a claim so that they could get insurance money for the vessel.

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.

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.