Two Sattahip-based naval vessels on an anti-piracy mission off Somalia rescued a Thai cargo ship from being hijacked in the Gulf of Aden.
Crews of the HTMS Similan and HTMS Narathiwat
were contacted Aug. 21 by the M.V. Thor Harmony, a 194-meter bulk
carrier operated by Bangkok’s Thoresen & Co., after crew members had
witnessed Somali pirates attacking a nearby oil tanker. Navy personnel
advised the Thai-flag freighter to flee the area and met the ship to
escort it and its cargo of dried goods to Jordan.
The save was just one of two wins for the Thai task force last month.
Two days later the Similan thwarted the attempted hijacking of the MSC
Namibia II 70 miles off the Yemeni coast. The Thai ship sent a Bell
helicopter with six crew aboard to the Liberian cargo ship, which was
under attack with rocket-propelled grenades.
Pirates broke off the attack and escaped on a skiff. The tanker and pursuit of the skiff were turned over to a U.S. Navy vessel.
The two navy ships are on Thailand’s second mission to the Gulf of
Aden as part of an international anti-piracy task force. The vessels
left Sattahip July 12 and are scheduled to return Nov. 28.
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