The explosive device was stashed aboard the 3,300–dwt Lapin (built 1978) following a raid by pirates on Friday, in which 2,000t of oil were stolen.

But according to the Thai Royal Navy the bomb turned out to only be an electric circuit with no detonator or explosives attached.

Details of the attack were confirmed in a report from the Singapore-based Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre.

“The