{"id":138393,"date":"2026-07-10T02:21:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T08:21:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/seafarers-attacked-in-the-strait-of-hormuz-sue-shipping-company-in-thailand\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T02:24:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T08:24:17","slug":"seafarers-attacked-in-the-strait-of-hormuz-sue-shipping-company-in-thailand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/seafarers-attacked-in-the-strait-of-hormuz-sue-shipping-company-in-thailand\/","title":{"rendered":"Seafarers attacked in the Strait of Hormuz sue shipping company in Thailand"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lawyer
Lawyer Kunpat Singhathong and three sailors from the Thailand-flagged ship, the Mayuree Naree, speak to journalists outside the Central Labour Court in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo\/Anton L. Delgado)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Anton L. Delgado)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BANGKOK (AP) \u2014 Three former crew members of a Thai cargo ship struck in the Strait of Hormuz<\/a> in March filed a lawsuit Friday against the vessel\u2019s operator over labor rights violations and unfair dismissal.<\/p>\n

The ship, the Mayuree Naree, was hit by a projectile north of Oman on March 11, killing three people. The remaining 20 crew members were rescued and returned to Thailand<\/a> about a week later.<\/p>\n

Former crew members Panithi Tumkaew, Noppadon Wongsuvan and Surades Manpuen filed the lawsuit against Precious Shipping Co. as well as two affiliated companies and the ship\u2019s captain.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants endangered their lives by sailing through the strait<\/a> despite the security risks, according to their lawyer Kunpat Singhathong.<\/p>\n

Kunpat said the three men were also dismissed before the completion of their nine-month employment contracts after the attack rendered the ship inoperable. He said they received compensation equivalent to two months\u2019 salary.<\/p>\n

The compensation was inadequate because they have since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, leaving them unable to continue working as sailors for the foreseeable future, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried to negotiate with the company, but it denied responsibility, so we believe the matter should be brought to the court,\u201d Kunpat said before filing the case with the Central Labor Court in Bangkok.<\/p>\n

He declined to identify the amount of compensation they are seeking, only that it would be over a million baht ($30,000) per person.<\/p>\n

Panithi, who said he had worked for Precious Shipping for more than a decade, said his wife encouraged him to seek medical treatment after noticing changes in his behavior.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen there are loud noises, I\u2019ll get startled,” he said. \u201cI can\u2019t work now, and I have to take medication.\u201d<\/p>\n

Precious Shipping did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

The remains of the three crew members killed in the attack were repatriated to Thailand earlier this month.<\/p>\n

In a statement on July 3, Precious Shipping thanked everyone involved in the repatriation process and expressed its condolences to the victims\u2019 families. The company said it \u201cremains committed to providing full assistance, care, and support to bereaved families throughout this difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the United States launched new airstrikes against Iran, which responded by targeting American allies in the Middle East. The exchange of fire threatens an interim deal intended to help end the Iran war<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The conflict has choked off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for about a fifth of global trade in crude oil and liquefied natural gas. Most of this was bound for Asia, which has struggled with a continentwide energy shock<\/a> since the war began on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n

The safety of stranded seafarers<\/a> in the Persian Gulf has been a source of concern among Asian nations \u2014 like India, the Philippines and Thailand \u2014 whose citizens make up a significant portion of ship crews.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not simply a matter of shipping statistics,\u201d said Arsenio Dominguez, the secretary-general of the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization in a statement Wednesday. \u201cBehind the figures are seafarers, and in some cases their families, who continue to bear the human cost of this conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Panithi
Panithi Tumkaew, a former sailor from the Thailand-flagged ship, the Mayuree Naree, stands outside the Central Labour Court in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo\/Anton L. Delgado)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Anton L. Delgado)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A Thai lawyer holds legal documents for a case filed by former sailors of the Thailand-flagged ship, the Mayuree Naree, outside the Central Labour Court in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo\/Anton L. Delgado)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Anton L. Delgado)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Smoke
Smoke billows from the Mayuree Naree, a Thailand-flagged bulk carrier, after it was hit by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, north of Oman, on March 11, 2026. (Panithi Tumkaew via AP)<\/span>(Panithi Tumkaew via AP)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Seafarers
Seafarers take shelter and don life jackets on the Mayuree Naree, after the Thailand-flagged bulk carrier was hit by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, north of Oman, on March 11. (Panithi Tumkaew via AP)<\/span>(Panithi Tumkaew via AP)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawyer Kunpat Singhathong and three sailors from the Thailand-flagged ship, the Mayuree Naree, speak to journalists outside the Central Labour Court in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo\/Anton L. Delgado)(AP Photo\/Anton L. Delgado) BANGKOK (AP) \u2014 Three former crew members of a Thai cargo ship struck in the Strait of Hormuz in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-138393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138393"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138395,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138393\/revisions\/138395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138393"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=138393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}