BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Twenty Thai crew members of a cargo ship attacked in the crucial Strait of Hormuz arrived in Thailand on Monday, with three of their colleagues still stranded on the vessel in the Gulf.
The Thai-registered Mayuree Naree was hit by two projectiles on Wednesday while transiting through the Gulf waterway, after departing a port in the United Arab Emirates.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had struck the Thai ship, as well as a Liberia-flagged vessel, in the strait because they had ignored “warnings.”
The 20 sailors landed at Thailand’s main international airport early Monday morning and were immediately escorted away by officials without speaking to gathered media.
Agence France-Presse journalists saw the returning crew members board a bus after arriving at the airport.
The vessel’s owner Precious Shipping said Monday that the firm would provide “welfare support for the crew, including medical examinations and mental health assessments,” according to a statement.
Its “highest priority” remained the “continued efforts to locate the three crew members who are still missing,” it added. The company said last week that the three crew were “believed to be trapped in the engine room.”