The "pirate mothership" destroyed by the Indian Navy in the Gulf of Aden last week was actually a Thai fishing boat that was itself being hijacked and whose crew was tied up below decks.
The sunken vessel, which was destroyed by INS Tabar, an Indian frigate, on the night of November 18, was the Ekawat Nava 5, a deep sea trawler – not a floating pirate armoury loaded to the gunnels with supplies of ammunition and explosives as India had claimed.
Wicharn Sirichaiekawat, manager of the Bangkok-based Sirichai Fisheries, the ship's owner, said that the true story emerged when one of his crew was found alive, adrift in the Indian Ocean, but that 14 others were still missing and at least one dead.
The story was confirmed by the International Maritime Bureau, the marine watchdog.
The news is a major embarrassment for India's navy, which had won international plaudits for taking the fight to the heavily-armed crews of Somali pirates that are terrorising the vital Suez Canal trade route. The incident is likely to trigger a review of the terms of engagement by the maritime forces patrolling the Indian Ocean, which include the Royal Navy, security experts said.
So far this year, Somali gangs have attacked 96 ships, seized nearly 40 and currently hold 15, including a Saudi supertanker with at least $100 million worth of oil on board, according to the IMB. More than 300 crew members are being held hostage and millions of dollars in ransoms has been paid.
Today, the Indian navy continued to insist that INS Tabar had acted in self defence after being threatened. Earlier it had released photographs of the incident which showed a large explosion on board the targeted vessel.
Disputing that account, Mr Wicharn said the Ekawat Nava 5 was heading to Yemen from Oman to deliver fishing equipment when it was attacked by two pirate speed boats.
"The sunken ship which the Indian navy claimed was a 'mother ship' of pirates was not the 'mother ship' at all," he said. The pirates were in the process of boarding the fishing vessel when the Indian navy appeared, he added.
An Indian navy spokesman told The Times: "If it is their [Sirichai Fisheries'] vessel, you will have to ask them why they are only making these claims now."
When it was pointed out that the story had only just emerged from a Cambodian crew member of the Ekawat Nava 5 who was adrift for nearly a week before being rescued, he said: "Why then, have they not filed a complaint with the UN or some other official body? We have received no complaint from the Thai government."
Details of the two-hour stand off between the two vessels remain scant. India has said its ship was threatened by pirates but has not made clear if radio contact was made between the vessels. The navy spokesman said the INS Tabar did not ask the pirates if they were holding hostages.
When The Times requested a clarification of the sequence of events, it was told to send an e-mail to the Indian Navy at pronavydelhi@gmail.com. No response was forthcoming.
Uday Bhasker, a Delhi-based defence analyst with close contacts to the Indian navy, dismissed suggestions that INS Tabar used more force than was warranted. He said: "My understanding is that this fishing vessel had been hijacked. The Indian captain's main responsibility is the safety of his vessel, which had been fired upon. He acted properly."
Mr Bhaskar did concede, however, that the incident may force those countries that have dispatched warships to the region to reconsider the rules of engagement under which they operate.
The IMB said the Indian navy ship may not have received a bulletin, which detailed that the Thai ship was being hijacked.
Encounters between security forces and Somali pirates have escalated sharply in recent weeks. A fortnight ago, pirates caught trying to hijack a cargo ship off Somalia fired on two Royal Navy assault craft packed with commandos armed with machineguns and SA80 rifles.
Two Somali pirates in a Yemeni-registered fishing dhow were killed. A third pirate, believed to be a Yemeni, suffered injuries and subsequently died.
France, South Korea, Russia, Spain, the US and Nato also have a presence in the region. Several other skirmishes have been reported.
Rhys Blakely in Bombay