Indian Navy sinking of Pirate 'Mother Ship' was actually a 'Thai Trawler'

[Geromix]

Right or wrong actions, an inquiry will be held anyway to look into the circumstances …..Meanwhile, If we keep our national biases aside for a while and wait for few more days, things should become much clearer……

Agree with him,its too early.And Always Neutral u have already called for the Captain to be court-martialled.

Lets be patient here....

 

[Always Neutral]

I am not doubting IMB on this but its still far too early to draw conclusions.

I am saying that there should be a proper investigation into this matter,a probe is necessary and only then would the complete truth come out.That might answer ur question why the Captain didnt call the IMB.

As an Indian it would be a matter of shame,the Captain should be punished but at this moment we should call for an investigation into this matter and not for the head of the Captain!!!

And my earlier point was that there was a lack of effective co-operation among the many navies there.

Btw,hundreds of innocent people have died due to US missile strikes along the Afghan border in name of killing terrorists.The similarity between that and the Indian action is clear.
While terrorists have died but the collateral damage is too high.There is very little the West can teach India on this.

Please donot generalize without facts. West abhors collateral damage word and thats why Bush and Blair are jobless.

Regards

 

[Always Neutral]

Agree with him,its too early.And Always Neutral u have already called for the Captain to be court-martialled.

Lets be patient here....

Dear G,

I have been at sea since 16 on both on naval and merchant ships and I know what i am talking about.

Please mark my words this incident will show the indian navy in bad light in times to come.

Regards

 

[zombie]

AN can you explain how the IMB would identify the trawler instantaneously? What info would the tabar have to provide?

 

[Geromix]

Please donot generalize without facts. West abhors collateral damage word and thats why Bush and Blair are jobless.

Regards

Ask any Pakistani here on the forum about facts on this!!!
Or watch the news,everyday u hear civilians dieing along Afghan border due to US missile air-strikes.

All nations abhor collateral damage but the reality on the ground is different.

Back to the topic pls...

I repeat u are drawing conclusions too early,u are not the fact-finding commission here so i urge u exercise some restrain.

Though u are entitled to ur opinions.

 

[Goodperson]

Some update in TOI I still wait for more news

Ship it attacked was hostile, says Indian navy
26 Nov 2008, 1344 hrs IST, AFP

NEW DELHI: Indian Navy said on Wednesday that a ship it attacked and sank in the Gulf of Aden was hostile, after a maritime watchdog said the

vessel was a Thai fishing trawler and not a pirate ship. ( Watch )

"The vessel was similar in description to what was mentioned in various piracy bulletins," an Indian Navy spokesman, Commander Nirad Sinha said.

"The Indian Navy ship asked them to stop for investigation on repeated calls. The vessel responded by saying it would blow up the Indian ship... Pirates were seen roaming on the deck with rocket-propelled grenade launchers."

He said the Indian Navy only opened fire after being fired upon, and that "exploding ammunition was also seen" on the target.

The Indian Navy won international praise for taking on the Somali pirates, who have turned the vital Suez Canal trade route into the world's most dangerous waterway.

But Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) piracy reporting centre, said on Wednesday the vessel attacked was a Thai-operated fishing boat which had been seized by pirates off Yemen on November 18.

Another Indian Navy official, speaking on condition he not be named, dismissed the IMB's account.

"Photographs of the attack and sinking of the vessel show a huge fireball. This shows there was ammunition carried on board, otherwise how could it have been such a great explosion?" the Navy official said. "If it was a fishing trawler, it could not have resulted in such a huge explosion."

An Indian defence ministry official said: "They tried to attack us and our actions were in defence of that -- whichever the ship was."

"It was a pirate vessel in international waters and its stance was aggressive," the official said.

Ship it attacked was hostile, says Indian navy-India-The Times of India

 

[Always Neutral]

Ask any Pakistani here on the forum about facts on this!!!
Or watch the news,everyday u hear civilians dieing along Afghan border due to US missile air-strikes.

All nations abhor collateral damage but the reality on the ground is different.

Back to the topic pls...

I repeat u are drawing conclusions too early,u are not the fact-finding commission here so i urge u exercise some restrain.

Though u are entitled to ur opinions.

The truth will be buried at all costs.

There is only one witness. The Indian Govt. will make a huge donation thru some unkown body to the families and then everyone will live happily ever after.

I hope that does not happen.

Regards

 

[BanglaBhoot]

Indian Navy Insists Destroyed Ship Was Controlled by Pirates
By Steve Herman
New Delhi
26 November 2008

India's navy says its warship, which sank a pirate-controlled vessel in the Gulf of Aden, had no indication the ship it encountered at sea may have been a Thai fishing boat with hostages on board. The owner of the Ekawat Nava 5 says the Indians should not have fired on the hijacked vessel, which may have claimed the lives of up to 15 fishermen. VOA correspondent Steve Herman has the story from New Delhi.

The International Maritime Bureau is backing the claim of a Thai fishing company that the vessel destroyed by the Indian navy off Yemen was a trawler that had been seized by pirates.

The IMB says one Thai fisherman died and 14 others are missing as a result of the maritime clash on November 18.

India's navy is reiterating its claim that the vessel it encountered 285 nautical miles from shore was a "mother ship" of a group of pirates, armed with rocket-propelled grenades, who first fired upon the Indian naval ship Tabar.

Indian Navy Lt. Commander Rajesh Nair tells VOA News the warship had no choice but to retaliate.

"Any vessel, on challenging in international waters, is a threat. It being a pirate ship, it was acting as one and we had to fire upon them," he said.

The navy spokesman says the crew of the Tabar saw no markings on the hostile vessel indicating it might have been a legitimate fishing vessel that had been seized.

The owner of Sirichai Fisheries in Thailand, Wicharn Sirichaiekawat, tells VOA News he is angry that the Indian navy frigate did not try to search for and render aid to his men who were on the destroyed trawler, the Ekawat Nava 5.

"They have to accept that OK, they sank our boat by accident or mistake or whatever," he said. "And we'd like to ask them whether have they looked for the missing crew because they are humans. Even during war, if people survive, you have to help them no matter whether they're enemy or not."

The IMB says other vessels in the area, including naval ships, were quickly notified that the Kiribati-registered boat, with a crew of 16, had been hijacked. A Cambodian survived and was rescued five days later by Yemeni fishermen. He told them one of his Thai colleagues had died at sea while they awaited rescue, but he did not know the fate of the others - some of whom may have been killed on board when the Indian navy opened fire.

VOA News - Indian Navy Insists Destroyed Ship Was Controlled by Pirates

 

[Geromix]

Dear G,

I have been at sea since 16 on both on naval and merchant ships and I know what i am talking about.

Please mark my words this incident will show the indian navy in bad light in times to come.

Regards

U are really experienced and its my pleasure to meet such an individual.

But personal experience is just not enough for me and others on this forum particularly Indians who would have a hard time in agreeing with u.

We Indians would believe only the conclusions of a probe.I hope u understand.

 

[Always Neutral]

AN can you explain how the IMB would identify the trawler instantaneously? What info would the tabar have to provide?

Dear Z,

All ships are registered with IMB which is neutral body. In the event of disappearence of the ship the owner who is in touch with the ship every 4 hours the IMB would be informed.

They would than send an alert to all ships in that area to look out for survivors etc.

At sea when we come across a strange ship we try to contact it on Channel 16 and incase that fails we fire two shots across the ships bow.

Meanwhile we contact IMB on satphone and give the vessel discription to them and they instantly tell us what the status of the vessel is.

If Tabar had done it as the RN did two days earlier they would have known hostages are onboard and then the only thing IN should have done was informed the Thai Govt and tailed the ship if they wished.

Regards

 

[Geromix]

The truth will be buried at all costs.

There is only one witness. The Indian Govt. will make a huge donation thru some unkown body to the families and then everyone will live happily ever after.

I hope that does not happen.

Regards

Could happen.But a lot would depend on the Indian media and public,they could pressurise the Govt.

 

[Always Neutral]

Could happen.But a lot would depend on the Indian media and public,they could pressurise the Govt.

No actually it depends on the Thai media and Govt. However GOI must be ready to present their log books, communication txs and other books to IMB and that will never happen.

Regards

 

[Geromix]

Some update in TOI I still wait for more news

Ship it attacked was hostile, says Indian navy
26 Nov 2008, 1344 hrs IST, AFP

NEW DELHI: Indian Navy said on Wednesday that a ship it attacked and sank in the Gulf of Aden was hostile, after a maritime watchdog said the

vessel was a Thai fishing trawler and not a pirate ship. ( Watch )

"The vessel was similar in description to what was mentioned in various piracy bulletins," an Indian Navy spokesman, Commander Nirad Sinha said.

"The Indian Navy ship asked them to stop for investigation on repeated calls. The vessel responded by saying it would blow up the Indian ship... Pirates were seen roaming on the deck with rocket-propelled grenade launchers."

He said the Indian Navy only opened fire after being fired upon, and that "exploding ammunition was also seen" on the target.

The Indian Navy won international praise for taking on the Somali pirates, who have turned the vital Suez Canal trade route into the world's most dangerous waterway.

But Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) piracy reporting centre, said on Wednesday the vessel attacked was a Thai-operated fishing boat which had been seized by pirates off Yemen on November 18.

Another Indian Navy official, speaking on condition he not be named, dismissed the IMB's account.

"Photographs of the attack and sinking of the vessel show a huge fireball. This shows there was ammunition carried on board, otherwise how could it have been such a great explosion?" the Navy official said. "If it was a fishing trawler, it could not have resulted in such a huge explosion."

An Indian defence ministry official said: "They tried to attack us and our actions were in defence of that -- whichever the ship was."

"It was a pirate vessel in international waters and its stance was aggressive," the official said.

Ship it attacked was hostile, says Indian navy-India-The Times of India

That is an interesting view point even though it is coming from the Indian side.

 

[zombie]

At sea when we come across a strange ship we try to contact it on Channel 16 and incase that fails we fire two shots across the ships bow.

might have been done by the IN we dont know.

Meanwhile we contact IMB on satphone and give the vessel discription to them and they instantly tell us what the status of the vessel is.

it looks like a trawler from the photos. Apparently its not a tanker or a cargo ship to be described/identified easily. Is there any other way to quickly/correctly identify or can trawlers be described easily some way? trying to understand.

 

[Flintlock]

More clarifications from IN:



According to Indian Navy sources, INS Tabar first communicated with the alleged pirate vessel with two speed boats in tow at 6.45 p.m. on Nov 18 on a frequency accessed by every ship in the vicinity. However, the vessel continued sailing towards the Somalian coast as INS Tabar tried to close in.

An hour later, armed men were spotted on the deck of the vessel and INS Tabar fired first warning shots around 7.45 p.m, asking it to stop. After repeated 'threatening calls' to blow the stealth frigate, the pirates fired at INS Tabar and 'retaliatory shots' were fired from the guided missile stealth frigate at 9.23 p.m., the navy said.

'The Thai company's claims have given rise to many questions. Firstly, if there were hostages aboard, why did not the pirates use them as human shield to get a way out? Secondly, the series of explosions on the vessel suggest large quantity of ammunition aboard,' a senior official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Sunken vessel was indulging in piracy: Indian Navy