This disaster has a happy ending.
Four cats left behind on board a sinking ship are being cared for after sailors from the Royal Thai Navy rescued them this week in a dramatic rescue at sea.
The country’s naval and coast guard responded to the sinking fishing boat off the coast of Satun province on the southern tip of Thailand, according to the Royal Thai Navy.
A Thai naval officer swims with a rescued cat on his back in the Andaman Sea on March 2, 2021 in this photo obtained from social media. (PO1 WICHIT PUKDEELON via REUTERS)
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Eight crew members, three Thai and five from Myanmar, have already been rescued. The sailors of the navy investigated the cause of the sinking and looked for any oil spill when they noticed that the cats were still on board the sinking vessel, which was then vertically in the water and was almost completely under water after it capsized.
“I used my camera to zoom in on the boat, and I saw one or two cats sticking their heads out,” Wichit Pukdeelon, a senior non-commissioned officer, told Reuters.
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Photos shared by the Royal Thai Navy on Facebook show the cats huddled, wet and scared.
More photos show one of the sailors wearing a life jacket and swimming out to fetch the cats so that the animals can ride safely while clawing at his shoulders. Other sailors pulled a rope to help him carry the cats on board their ship.
The Navy’s Facebook messages about the rescue received more than 15,000 “likes” and thousands of comments praising the sailors’ actions.
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The rescuers are caring for the cats at their base on the island of Koh Lipe, reports Reuters. Photos shared by the Navy on Facebook show soldiers drying the cats with a towel and sitting on a table with large bowls of cat food.
“All four cats are well cared for,” they wrote.