The "pirate mothership" destroyed by the Indian Navy in the Gulf of Aden last week was actually a Thai fishing boat that was itself being hijacked and whose crew was tied up below decks.
The sunken vessel, which was destroyed by INS Tabar, an Indian frigate, on the night of November 18, was the Ekawat Nava 5, a deep sea trawler – not a floating pirate armoury loaded to the gunnels with supplies of ammunition and explosives as India had claimed.
Wicharn Sirichaiekawat, manager of the Bangkok-based Sirichai Fisheries, the ship's owner, said that the true story emerged when one of his crew was found alive, adrift in the Indian Ocean, but that 14 others were still missing and at least one dead.
The story was confirmed by the International Maritime Bureau, the marine watchdog.
The news is a major embarrassment for India's navy, which had won international plaudits for taking the fight to the heavily-armed crews of Somali pirates that are terrorising the vital Suez Canal trade route. The incident is likely to trigger a review of the terms of engagement by the maritime forces patrolling the Indian Ocean, which include the Royal Navy, security experts said.
SOURCE: Times Online
