Bangkok [Thailand] December 20 (ANI): The Thai Navy during a two-day search and rescue operation found six dead sailors at the site of the sinking of the corvette Sukhothai, while 23 more servicemen are still missing, Royal Thai Navy said. “Arrange unmanned aerial vehicles or #UAV to join the search with HTMS Bhumibol Adulyadej. HTMS Naresuan HTMS Kraburi and HTMS Angthong and aircraft to perform search carpeting. Another 23 missing personnel continued for 24 hours,” the Thai Navy tweeted.
While patrolling the bay 20 nautical miles offshore from Prachuap Khiri Khan province on Sunday night, the corvette Sukhothai was exposed to heavy waves and scooped up excessive amounts of water, which led to the ship tilting and eventually singing, at 00.12 a m local time.
On Monday, the Thai navy said that rescuers have found 75 crew members and are still looking for the remaining 31. “During the search and rescue operation over the last 24 hours, four bodies of dead sailors and two surviving crew members were found at sea,” the Royal Thai Navy Commander Admiral Choengchai Chomchoengphaet said at an earlier press conference in Bangkok, as quoted by Sputnik.
“As it turned out, one serviceman did not get on the corvette before it left Sattahip Naval Base, so there were 105 people on the ship, not 106,” the admiral said, adding that 30 people on the ship, mostly marines, lacked life jackets.
The Thai Navy Commander expressed the hope that the rescue operation would still be able to locate survivors. “One of the two survivors found today, during the third day of the search, was found nearly 30 nautical miles [34,5 miles] from the corvette’s wreck, he was a Marine soldier. He had no injuries. Doctors assessed his physical condition as normal. That gives us hope that we can still find survivors,” the commander added.
Later in the day, the Thai Navy’s main headquarters reported the death of one of the two servicemen rescued on Tuesday. The navy launched a search and rescue operation immediately after it was made aware of the ship’s distress, deploying three navy ships, several civilian ships, and navy aircraft and helicopters. The air and sea search is still ongoing.
The corvette Sukhothai was built in the United States and was commissioned into the Thai navy in February 1987. The ship was designed to conduct patrols as well as anti-submarine warfare and air defense. (ANI)
