In recent news from Thailand, a warship carrying 106 crew members capsized and sank in the Gulf of Thailand.
75 members were rescued and 31 are still missing.
The reason Thailand Warship sank is because a huge storm build up in the Gulf of Thailand.
The strong winds tilted the 252-foot (76.8 meters) corvette HTMS Sukhotai, which cause the water to enter an exhaust pipe and subsequently shut down the ship’s electrical system.
The warship’s main power fail caused by the electrical shutdown, which was unable to pump out seawater and this resulted in the ship sank into the sea around 23:30 local time on Sunday (16:30 GMT).
The Royal Thai Navy corvette Sukhothai sank in the Gulf of #Thailand in a storm.
There were 106 sailors on board. 75 of them were evacuated, the fate of the rest is unknown. pic.twitter.com/fexCI6oBRs
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) December 19, 2022
Thailand Warship Rescue Mission
Thailand Warship HTMS Sukhothai rescue mission is underway. Authorities said they had rescued 75 sailors, but 31 were still missing in rough seas.
#Thailand: A Royal Thai 🇹🇭 Navy #Ratanakosin class Corvette HTMS Sukhothai (FS-442) has reportedly sunk after taking in water due to rough sea conditions. The ship was patrolling at a distance of 20 miles from the pier in Bang Saphan District, Prachuap Province. pic.twitter.com/eUWmBktpcz
— Defence Insider (@defence_insider) December 18, 2022
“We will keep looking”, a navy spokesman told the BBC.
Helicopters and 3 naval ships were sent to rescue of the sailors.
Only HTMS Kraburi reached the vessels before it sank. It picked up most of the Sukhothai’s crew. Sailors wearing life jackets were found in the water and life rafts.
As per the reports, all crew members of HTMS Sukhothai have been rescued by the Royal Thai Navy. #เรือหลวงสุโขทัย pic.twitter.com/PMt9w3kCOq
— Defence Insider (@defence_insider) December 18, 2022
An unnamed crew member said, “The waves were quite high, about three metres when the ship sank. I put on the life jacket and jumped. I swam for three hours”.
#กองทัพเรือ ชี้แจงกรณี #เรือหลวงสุโขทัย อัปปาง#เวลา 18.00 น. ผู้บังคับบัญชากองเรือยุทธการ เดินทางมารับกำลังที่ได้รับบาดเจ็บจำนวน 6 นาย ที่ลำเลียงโดยเครื่องบินลาดตระเวนแบบดอร์เนีย ณ สนามบินอู่ตะเภา เพื่อส่งต่อการรักษา ที่โรงพยาบาลสมเด็จพระนางเจ้าสิริกิติ์ อ.สัตหีบ จ.ชลบุรี pic.twitter.com/FcyddFtgMe
— กองทัพเรือ ROYAL THAI NAVY (@prroyalthainavy) December 19, 2022
The statement from the officials said, “Over the course of more than three hours, efforts to transfer pumps to the Sukhothai from other naval vessels responding to the incident failed”.
The severe weather in the Gulf of Thailand,20 miles from Bang Saphan district, Prachuap Khiri Khan province hampering the search efforts.
The Thai navy also announced an investigation into this matter.
This has almost never happened in our force’s history, especially to a ship that is still in active use” said Admiral Pogkorong Monthardpalin to the BBC.
Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha released the statement on Monday “I am following the news closely – about five people are seriously injured.”
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Thailand Warship Sukhothai Was Built in the USA
Thailand warship had been on patrol 32km (20 miles) east of Bang Saphan in the Prachuap Khiri Khan province when it got capsized due to a storm on Sunday.
960 tom Sukhothai warship was built in the USA and commissioned to the Thai navy in 1987.
Carl Schuster, a retired US Navy captain said that crew faced difficulty in such old ship. He continued with
“Once you lose power, you are in the dark and doing everything with portable diesel pumps and buckets. For a small, (almost) 40-year-old ship in heavy seas, the odds are against success in that case.”