Seven Victims of Sinking of Corvette HTMS Sukhothai Thailand Found, 23 Still Missing

The front HTMS Sukhothai FSGM-442 warship with HTMS Rattanakhosin FSGM-441 and HTMS Angthong LPD-791. (Wikimedia Commons/US Navy/MC1 Patrick Dille)

JAKARTA - Seven Thai Navy soldiers who were victims of the sinking of the corvette type warship HTMS Sukhothai (FSGM-442) in the Gulf of Thailand two days ago, were found on Tuesday.

"Seven victims found today. One survivor, six died. While 23 others are still missing," the Thai Navy wrote on Twitter, as quoted on December 21.

HTMS Sukhothai sank late Sunday with 105 crew on board, after losing power to the storm.

The navy said a total of 76 crew members had been rescued after two days of searching and that the search would continue.

Hundreds of officers on four Navy ships, HTMS Kraburi (FFG-457), HTMS Angthong (LPD-791), HTMS Naresuan (FFG 421) and HTMS Bhumibol Adulyadej (FFG 471), as well as a number of helicopters, planes and drones were deployed to scan the area. covering an area of ​​50 square kilometers, as reported by CNA, December 21.

"The last person found was 41 hours after the ship sank and he is still alive. So we believe there are still people out there alive. We will continue to search," Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Chonlathis Navanugraha said, citing the BBC.

A naval commander previously assessed search crews had just two days to find anyone alive, given the time they had spent at sea.

Several sailors have been found, exhausted and unconscious in some cases. Not all of the missing were wearing life vests.

ค้นพบผู้เสียเสียชีวิตเพิ่ม 1 ราย

รวมพบเสียชีวิต 6 ราย ขณะนี้เฮลิคอปเตอร์แบบซีฮอร์ค ลำเลียงศพผู้เสียชีวิตทั้ง 6 นาย มาที่ อ.บางสะพาน เพื่อทำการตรวจสอบอัตลักษณ์ ต่อไป

สรุป วันนี้ค้นพบ 7 นาย รอดชีวิต 1 นาย เสียชีวิต 6 นาย ยังคงสูญหาย 23 นาย#กองทัพเรือ#เรือหลวงสุโขทัย

— กองทัพเรือ ROYAL THAI NAVY (@prroyalthainavy) December 20, 2022

"We found this man holding a life jacket. He was floating in the water for 10 hours," Captain Krapich Korawee-Paparwit of HTMS Kraburi (FFG-457) told Reuters.

He added that the man, still conscious, had minor head injuries and "eyes hurt from the sea water."

Another sailor was found in a lifeboat after they jumped from a sinking ship. Images and footage shared by the navy on Twitter show survivors wrapped in blankets and being taken to hospital.

HTMS Sukhothai, a 76m long corvette, was on its second day of routine patrol when it sank. The navy said water flooded her hull and then the electrical room, cutting off power.

It is not yet known what caused the ship to flood, and why the sailors were forced to jump into the water.

The Thai navy said it was the first time it had lost a ship in such circumstances, and would launch an investigation.

However, naval experts questioned how such a disaster could befall a ship on routine patrol.

"It's really unusual," said naval law expert David Letts, a professor at the Australian National University.

He noted measures were in place to prevent flooding from affecting central units such as the engine room.

"The ship was divided into compartments - and there had to be a series of watertight doors starting from the upper deck, so that seawater didn't get inside the ship itself."

The fact that the disaster struck at night means that it is likely that many sailors were asleep at the time, and the chaotic situation may have resulted in altered protocols such as bringing the crew to the upper decks or releasing the life rafts.

Entered service in 1987, HTMS Sukhothai (FSGM-442) was built in the United States by the now defunct Tacoma Boatbuilding Company, according to the US Naval Institute.