Thai warship sinks leaving dozens of sailors drifting in choppy seas
- The HTMS Sukhothai suffered an engine malfunction and went down just before midnight about 20 nautical miles off the coast of Thailand
- Bad weather has hampered the rescue operation, with 31 of the 106 people aboard still unaccounted for as of noon, according to the Thai navy
Three navy vessels and two helicopters were sent to find the HTMS Sukhothai off Prachuap Khiri Khan province, south of Bangkok, after it suffered an engine malfunction and went down just before midnight about 20 nautical miles off the coast.
An overnight rescue mission in bad weather secured 73 of the 106 people aboard, the navy said, with the remaining 33 forced to abandon ship. As of noon on Monday, 75 sailors from the HTMS Sukhothai corvette had been rescued and 31 were still in the water.
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 announced.
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 that the ship was buffeted by waves 3 metres (10 feet) high as it was sinking on 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 Admiral Pokkrong Monthatphalin told Thai PBS.
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Strong winds blew seawater onto the HTMS Sukhothai and knocked out its electrical system on Sunday evening, making control of the ship difficult. Thailand’s navy dispatched three frigates and two helicopters with mobile pumping machines to try to assist the disabled ship by removing the seawater but said it couldn’t do so because of the strong winds.
The loss of power allowed more seawater to flow into the vessel, causing it to list and sink.
The navy posted images and video footage on its Twitter account showing a group of personnel in orange vests in a black inflatable raft moving away from a ship in darkness as waves swelled around it. It was not immediately clear how many rafts had been deployed.
A picture shared by the navy showed the grey vessel flipped over onto its side, while another image on a scanner screen showed the bow of the ship and a gun turret poking out above the waterline as it went down.
The Sukhothai, a US-built corvette in use since 1987, was on patrol at sea 32km (20 miles) from the pier at Bangsaphan district in Prachuap Khiri Khan province. Pokkrong said the ship had been on its regular patrol to assist any fishing boats needing help.
“Our top priority now is to rescue all the sailors. We will plan to have the ship salvaged later,” he said. The search was being conducted in an area of 16 square km (6.2 square miles) around the site of the sinking.
While northern and central Thailand are seeing their coldest temperatures of the year, far southern Thailand has been experiencing storms and flooding in recent days. Ships were warned to stay ashore.
Additional reporting by Reuters
