This catastrophe had a happy ending.
Four cats left aboard a sinking ship are being cared for after sailors in the Royal Thai Navy rescued them in a dramatic rescue at sea this week.
The country’s navy and coast guard responded to the site of the wreck of the fishing boat on Tuesday off the coast of Satun province, in the far south of Thailand, according to the Royal Navy of Thailand.
A Thai navy officer swims with a cat rescued on his back in the Andaman Sea on March 2, 2021 in this photo taken from social media. (PO1 WICHIT PUKDEELON via REUTERS)
THE DOG SURVIVES THE FIRE, 2 WEEKS ALONE BEFORE MEETING WITH THE OWNER
Eight crew members, three Thais and five from Myanmar, had already been rescued. Navy sailors were investigating the cause of the shipwreck and looking for some oil spills when they realized that the cats were still on board the ship that was sinking, which was upright in the water and almost completely submerged after capsizing.
“I used my camera to approach the boat and saw a cat or two sticking their heads out,” first-class petty officer Wichit Pukdeelon told Reuters.
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Photos that the Royal Thai Navy shared on Facebook show the cats huddled together, looking wet and scared.
More photos show one of the sailors wearing a life jacket and swimming to rescue the cats, giving the animals a safe ride as they clung to his shoulders. Other sailors pulled a rope to help him carry the cats on board the ship.
The Navy posts on Facebook about the rescue received more than 15,000 “likes” and thousands of comments praising the sailors’ actions.
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Rescuers are looking after the cats at their base on the island of Koh Lipe, Reuters reported. Photos the navy shared on Facebook show soldiers drying the cats with a towel and sitting at a table with large bowls of cat food.
“All four cats are well looked after,” they wrote.