Here's a moving story about four kittens at sea, that was almost a cat-astrophe. A boat was capsized in the middle of deep waters near the island of Koh Adang, and eight distressed crew members called for help. Despite the quick rescue effort, the Royal Thai Navy had to re-check the capsized boat for a possibility of an oil spill. When the officers approached the boat, it was already on its way down to the depths.
When Navy Officers went back to check for an oil spill from a sinking boat, they spotted 4 cats huddled on a crane structure
Image credits: RoyalThaiNavyFanpage
While investigating the wreckage, the First-Class Petty Officer Wichit Pukdeelon zoomed in his camera to inspect the boat. And that's when he saw four cats hanging on for dear life on a crane-like structure. Another rescue immediately took place, and this time, time was of the essence.
Thatsaphon Saii, 23, immediately took his shirt off, put on a life vest, and swam 50 ft in an effort to save the cats
Image credits: RoyalThaiNavyFanpage
One of the officers, Thatsaphon Saii, 23, realized the direness of the situation and jumped into action. He put on a life jacket and dove into the sea in an effort to rescue them. He swam about 50 ft and acted fast on the quickly sinking boat. The fires were starting to spread, and there wasn't that much time before the boat sank altogether. One by one, he took the cats on his shoulders and swam back and forth between the two boats.
Time was of the essence, as the boat sank rapidly, and fire started spreading throughout the boat
Image credits: RoyalThaiNavyFanpage
Image credits: RoyalThaiNavyFanpage
Image credits: RoyalThaiNavyFanpage
Image credits: RoyalThaiNavyFanpage
All of the four cats were successfully saved and secured on the navy boat
Image credits: RoyalThaiNavyFanpage
As the four cats finally landed on relatively firm ground of the Royal Thai Navy boat, the officers could finally breathe a sigh of relief as they watched the unfortunate boat sink while fully engulfed in flames. As for the ship, the story isn't over yet. The officials said that the oil tank of the ship is prone to leaking and is very dangerous for the environment. The Navy is contacting related agencies in order to salvage the wreckage before the environmental damage gets out of hand. Oil spillages cause great damage to the coral reefs and eventually settle on the seabed, which endangers the flora and the fauna even further.
The rescued cats are now being cared for under the Royal Navy’s wing in a command post on the island of Koh Lipe
Image credits: RoyalThaiNavyFanpage
The cats were then moved to the command post on the island of Koh Lipe, where they now reside in the loving arms of the Royal Thai Navy. The hero of the story, who almost literally swam the oceans in order to rescue these four lovely cats, was relieved that they managed to save them. He was sure that the cats would probably have drowned or died of thirst otherwise.
Image credits: RoyalThaiNavyFanpage
The rescuer and the rescued, sharing a moment
Image credits: RoyalThaiNavyFanpage
Image credits: RoyalThaiNavyFanpage
Image credits: RoyalThaiNavyFanpage
The story inspired many, and some even went so far as to illustrate the heroic effort and how the Navy adopted the fortunate cats
Image credits: RoyalThaiNavyFanpage
Image credits: RoyalThaiNavyFanpage