Thai Navy Finds 4 Dead Sailors, 24 Still Missing Following Sunday Ship Wreck - Commander

The Thai Navy during a two-day search and rescue operation found two survivors and four dead sailors at the site of the sinking of the corvette Sukhothai, while 24 more servicemen are still missing, Royal Thai Navy Commander Admiral Choengchai Chomchoengphaet said on Tuesday.

BANGKOK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th December, 2022) The Thai Navy during a two-day search and rescue operation found two survivors and four dead sailors at the site of the sinking of the corvette Sukhothai, while 24 more servicemen are still missing, Royal Thai Navy Commander Admiral Choengchai Chomchoengphaet said on Tuesday.

While patrolling the bay 20 nautical miles (23 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 (17:12 GMT, Sunday). 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 commander said at a press conference in Bangkok.

According to Admiral Cholthis Nawanukroh, the chief of staff of the Thai Navy, there are still 24 sailors missing.

"The search and rescue operation is still ongoing, we have yet to find 24 of the people who were on the ship at the time of the wreck," the admiral said.

According to the admiral, there were 105 people on board at the time of the incident, not 106 as was reported earlier.

"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.