Thai navy looking for 31 lacking sailors after ship sank | World News

Thai navy ships and helicopters searched Monday for greater than 30 sailors nonetheless lacking greater than 17 hours after their warship sank in tough seas within the Gulf of Thailand.

As of Monday afternoon, 75 sailors from the HTMS Sukhothai corvette had been rescued and 31 had been nonetheless lacking, the navy mentioned. The excessive waves that brought about the accident had lessened since Sunday evening's sinking, however had been nonetheless excessive sufficient to hazard small boats, the navy mentioned.

A rescued crew member interviewed by Thai PBS tv mentioned he needed to float within the sea for 3 hours earlier than he was rescued. He mentioned the ship was buffeted by waves 3 meters (10 toes) excessive because it was sinking Sunday evening, complicating rescue efforts.

“The waves are nonetheless excessive and we can't seek for them from the horizontal line. We now have to fly the helicopters and seek for them from a hen’s eye view as a substitute,” navy spokesman Adm. Pokkrong Monthatphalin instructed Thai PBS.

Eleven of the rescued sailors had been being handled in a hospital. The navy denied an area media report that one demise had been confirmed, saying the fatality was from an accident involving one other boat.

Robust winds blew seawater onto the HTMS Sukhothai and knocked out its electrical system Sunday night, making management of the ship troublesome. The navy dispatched three frigates and two helicopters with cellular pumping machines to attempt to help the disabled ship by eradicating the seawater, however could not accomplish that due to the robust winds.

The lack of energy allowed extra seawater to circulation into the vessel, inflicting it to checklist and sink.

Thailand's Meteorological Division had issued a climate advisory for the final space just some hours earlier than the accident, saying that waves within the Gulf of Thailand had been anticipated to be 2-4 meters (7-14 toes) excessive with thundershowers. It recommended that every one ships “proceed with warning” and warned small craft to not go to sea till Tuesday.

The Sukhothai was in-built Tacoma, Washington, and commissioned in 1987. With a most displacement of 959 tons and a size of 76.8 meters (252 toes), it's about midsize for a corvette, a sort of armed vessel that usually is used for patrolling shut offshore waters.

The warship had been on patrol 32 kilometers (20 miles) from the pier at Bangsaphan district in Prachuap Khiri Khan province. Pokkrong mentioned the ship had been on an everyday patrol to help any fishing boats needing assist.

“Our prime precedence now could be to rescue all of the sailors. We are going to plan to have the ship salvaged later," he mentioned. The search was being carried out in a 16-square kilometer (6.2-square mile) space across the web site of the sinking.

Whereas northern and central Thailand are seeing their coldest temperatures of the yr, far southern Thailand has been experiencing storms and flooding in latest days.