SONGKHLA: All 12 crew were taken to safety after a fishing trawler caught fire while refuelling in the Gulf of Thailand off Pattani province on Saturday night.
The Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre Region 2 (Thai-MECC Region 2) received a report about 11.15pm that a Thai fishing boat named Venus had caught fire while being refuelled in the sea east of Pattani's Laem Tachi.
The report said the fate of the crew was not known.
The patrol boat Tor 992 was ordered to mount a rescue, and departed from the mouth of the Kolok river in Narathiwat that same night, the maritime centre said.
It arrived at the distressed boat's reported position about 5.30am on Sunday. The fire was found to have been put out, leaving the boat badly damaged. The 12 crewmen, including the skipper, were safe.
The fire-damaged boat, with the skipper and two crew aboard, was towed by another fishing boat to the shore.
The nine other crewmen, all of them Myanmar nationals, were taken to shore by the Tor 992. All tested negative for Covid-19.