3 Crew Of Thai Ship Attacked In Strait Of Hormuz 'Believed Trapped', Rescue Efforts Ongoing

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) [Editor's Note: Follow Khaleej Times live blog amid US-Israel-Iran war for the latest regional developments.]

Three crew members believed to be trapped aboard a Thai bulk carrier hit by projectiles while travelling through the crucial Strait of Hormuz were yet to be rescued on Thursday, the vessel's owner said.

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Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they had struck the Thai-registered Mayuree Naree, as well as a Liberia-flagged vessel, in the strait because the ships had ignored "warnings".

The Thai ship was struck Wednesday morning while transiting through the Gulf waterway, after departing Khalifa port in the UAE.

The two projectiles damaged the Mayuree Naree's engine room and caused a fire, Thai transport company Precious Shipping said in a statement Wednesday evening.

"Three crew members are reported missing and believed to be trapped in the engine room," it said, adding that authorities were working to rescue them.

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"Unfortunately, that remains the case," the firm's managing director Khalid Hashim told AFP on Thursday.

"We still have not been able to get anyone to board our ship, even though the fire has been extinguished," Hashim said in an email.

"We are trying different avenues to get onboard."

The Omani navy rescued 20 of the vessel's sailors on Wednesday, the Thai navy said.

Thailand's foreign ministry said all 23 crew members were Thai.

All Thai vessels have left the Strait of Hormuz and Bangkok had "protested against the violence done to the commercial ships", the ministry's deputy spokesman Panidol Patchimsawat told reporters on Thursday.

"Please be assured that we are on a mission to find the missing three," he added.

Since strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran in late February ignited the Middle East war, the Islamic republic has launched its own attacks against its oil-exporting neighbours.

The strikes have threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and plunged the global energy economy into crisis.

The strait is a crucial waterway through which a fifth of global oil supplies usually pass.

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