Thai Navy Searching for 31 Missing Sailors After Ship Sank

In this photo provided by the Royal Thai Navy, the HTMS Sukhothai corvette warship lists off the coast of Prachuap Khiri Khan province, Thailand, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (Royal Thai Navy via AP)
19 Dec 2022
Associated Press | By Tassanee Vejpongsa and Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul

BANGKOK — Thai navy ships and helicopters searched Monday for more than 30 sailors still missing 24 hours after their warship sank in rough seas in the Gulf of Thailand. Survivors described chaotic scenes as they struggled to survive while the ship went down, and the navy commander confirmed there were not enough life jackets for everyone on board.

As of Monday night, 75 sailors from the HTMS Sukhothai corvette had been rescued and 31 were still missing, the navy said. The high waves that caused the accident had lessened since Sunday night's sinking, but were still high enough to endanger small boats, the navy said.

Details about the sinking and the initial rescue effort were still unclear. One sailor told Thai Rath television that there were not enough life jackets because more people than usual were aboard the ship.

In comments broadcast by another station, PPTV, Navy Commander Adm. Choengchai Chomchoengpaet confirmed that was true.

“This operation, they added staff from the Marine Corps and Air and Coastal Defense Command, about 30 people. This is why I think there were not enough life jackets,” he said.

The ship normally carried a total of 87 crew and officers, according to the navy's website.

A rescued crew member interviewed by Thai PBS television said he had to float in the sea for three hours before he was rescued. He said the ship was buffeted by waves 3 meters (10 feet) high as it was sinking Sunday night, complicating rescue efforts.

“The waves are still high and we cannot search for them from the horizontal line. We have to fly the helicopters and search for them from a bird’s eye view instead,” navy spokesman Adm. Pokkrong Monthatphalin told Thai PBS.

Eleven of the rescued sailors were being treated in a hospital. The navy denied a local media report that one death had been confirmed, saying the fatality was from an accident involving another boat.

“We have not found any dead yet,” Choengchai said. “The 31 sailors remain missing persons. We have not found anyone dead from where the incident occurred and from the search area.”
https://www.military.com/daily-news/202 ... -sank.html

Search continues for 23 missing Thai navy sailors
Story by Joe Fisher • 1h ago
Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Twenty-three members of Thailand's navy are still missing at sea after a warship on a routine patrol capsized on Sunday night.

The ship sank about 20 miles off the coast of Bang Saphan district in central Thailand.

Six bodies have been recovered and 76 crew members were rescued as of early Tuesday afternoon. The HTMS Sukhothai was carrying a crew of 105 people when it was caught in a strong storm. The main hull took water, which eventually reached its central power and caused the ship to lose electricity.

An investigation is underway into how the hull was breached. The navy said it has not lost a vessel in this way before.

"It's really unusual," naval law expert David Letts, an associate professor at the Australian National University, told BBC. "The ship's divided into compartments -- and there should be a series of watertight doors that start on the upper deck, so the ocean doesn't get down into the ship itself."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/se ... r-AA15v6q0

As Hope Fades for Missing Thai Sailors, Ship’s Safety Is Scrutinized
Five days after the warship sank, 23 men remain missing. The authorities said the warship did not have enough life jackets.
By Muktita Suhartono and Yan Zhuang
Dec. 23, 2022

The water rushed into the warship in darkness. As the Thai naval ship rocked in the rough waters and began to tilt, the 105 sailors on board scrambled for life jackets, knowing they were 30 short.

They tried to maintain control of the ship, the HTMS Sukhothai, but water short-circuited the power system. The engine died. The rudder locked. The pumps, which remove water from the ship, failed.

More than 20 miles from the nearest coast, the sailors called for help. Other ships approached, but were unable to get close enough to assist because of the choppy seas.

When the 35-year-old warship rolled onto its side, some sailors called their families. The 30 people without life jackets grabbed buoys or tried to escape on inflatable rafts.

Three hours after it started taking in water, the ship sank on Sunday around 11:30 p.m. Five days later, 23 of the crew remain missing, while 76 have been found. Six bodies have been recovered.

Although the search-and-rescue operation is still underway, the missing men are feared dead. On Friday, one life jacket was found on an island some 70 miles away, bearing the name of a deceased sailor, Jakpong Poonpon. The life jacket would be returned to his family, the authorities said.

Vice Adm. Pichai Lorchusakul, commander of the 1st Naval Area Command, told local reporters that those missing could not be expected to survive in the sea for longer than two days.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/23/worl ... sinks.html