Thai navy sailor rescues four cats from sinking ship

In a purrfect rescue mission, a Thai navy sailor braved the sea to launch a dramatic rescue this week after discovering four cats had been abandoned on a sinking ship that caught fire off a paradise island.

After the crew had been taken to safety on Tuesday, the navy was sent back to the capsized vessel to look for an oil spill but instead, they discovered a few crew members who had been forgotten.

First-Class Petty Officer Wichit Pukdeelon of the navy’s air and coastal defence division told Reuters, “I used my camera to zoom in to the boat, and I saw one or two cats popping their heads out.”

To rescue the kittens, a sailor in a life vest swam to the capsized boat. The four ginger cats were huddled together on a wooden beam. The rescuer then saved the cats and brought them to the vessel on his shoulder, keeping them above the water level. Once he reached the boat, his team pulled him in by rope.

The video of the rescue mission was shared on Twitter by the official page of Reuters. It managed to garner more than 161.9k views and several thousand likes in a day.

Watch the video here: