On Monday, rescue efforts were underway to locate survivors, who had gone missing more than 12 hours after the ship went down. As of midday (5am UK), 75 sailors from the HTMS Sukhothai corvette had been rescued and 31 were still in the water, according to the Thai navy. The high waves which caused the accident had lessened since Sunday night’s sinking, but were still high enough to endanger small boats, the navy added. A rescued crew member said he had to float in the sea for three hours before he was saved. He told Thai PBS television that the ship was being buffeted by three-metre (10-foot) waves as it sank, complicating rescue efforts. “The waves are still high, and we can’t find them from the horizontal line. We have to fly the helicopters and search for them from a bird’s eye view instead,” navy spokesman Admiral Pokkrong Monthatphalin told Thai PBS. Strong winds blew seawater onboard the HTMS Sukhothai, knocking out its electrical system and making ship control difficult. In response, the 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. More seawater was able to flow onto the vessel due to the loss of power, causing it to list and sink. HTMS Sukhothai had been on patrol at sea 32 kilometres (20 miles) from the pier at Bangsaphan district in Prachuap Khiri Khan province. Admiral Pokkrong said the ship had been on its regular patrol to assist any fishing boats needing help. “Our top priority right now is to save all of the sailors. “We intend to salvage the ship later,” he added. Rescuers were searching a 16-square-kilometer (6.2-square-mile) area surrounding the sinking. While northern and central Thailand are experiencing the coldest temperatures of the year, far southern Thailand has recently been hit by storms and flooding.
