Thai navy ship sinks, rescue under way for sailors in water

Bangkok, December 19

A Thai navy ship sank in the Gulf of Thailand and ships and helicopters were working on Monday to rescue sailors from the water.

As of midmorning, 75 sailors had been rescued and 31 were still in the water, the navy said.

Strong winds blew seawater onto the HTMS Sukhothai corvette and knocked out its electrical system on Sunday evening. The Royal Thai Navy dispatched three frigates and two helicopters with mobile pumping machines to try to assist the disabled ship by removing the seawater but 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.

It occurred while the warship was on patrol at sea 32 kilometres from the pier at Bangsaphan district in Prachuap Khiri Khan province.

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. AP