Thailand navy ship sinking: Race to rescue dozens of marines as vessel capsizes in strong winds
A Thai navy vessel has capsized in the Gulf of Thailand overnight, with warships and helicopters joining efforts to rescue more than 100 marines stranded by the incident.
The Royal Thai Navy confirmed on Monday that the HTMS Sukhothai warship, which was on a patrol, suffered an engine malfunction and started taking on water just before midnight nearly 20 nautical miles off the coast.
Strong winds blew seawater onto the US-built corvette and knocked out its electrical system on Sunday evening. The loss of power allowed more water to flow into the vessel, causing it to list and sink.
At least 78 sailors have been rescued and 28 were still in the water, the navy said.
Three frigates and two helicopters with mobile pumping machines were dispatched off Prachuap Khiri Khan province, south of Bangkok, to try to assist the disabled ship by removing seawater.
However, the strong winds continued to pose a challenge and these efforts failed.
The rescued marines were brought to the port of Bang Saphan in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, the navy said early on Monday. Although no casualties have been reported so far, three of those rescued had suffered critical injuries.
The force shared images and video footage showing in orange vests in a black inflatable raft moving away from a ship in darkness.
A picture 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.
Ships were reportedly warned to stay ashore due to frequent storms in southern Thailand.
The ship’s drowning is a significant blow to the Thai navy which had only seven corvettes. The force has only two Ratanakosin-class corvettes built in the US by Tacoma Boatbuilding Company in the 1980s.
