A dramaticsearch operationis ongoing to find thirty-one sailors missing from the Royal Thai Navy warship ‘Sukhothai,’ after it sank Monday in the Gulf of Thailand.
A translated statement from the Thai Navy posted on Instagram read that the Sukhothai’s hull “tilted fromstrong wind waves,” 20 miles from shore.
The ship also suffered an electrical outage due to seawater entering it from an exhaust pipe, which left the crew unable to pump out water from the 252-foot vessel — which was built in the United States and commissioned into the Thai Navy in 1987.
Those at the scene attempted to transfer pumps from other naval vessels for three hours but sadly failed, per the statement.
“At 00.12 am of Monday, the Sukhothai tiled even further and later sank,” the translated statement added.
A total of 106 sailors were on board the ship at the time. Seventy-five crew in total have since been found — 11 of whom have been hospitalized — and asearch operation is ongoingto find the remaining 31 mariners, per the Thai Navy.
ROYAL THAI NAVY/AFP via Getty
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Another video from the sinking features the crew sitting on a rescue raft, as others attempt to pull them to safety on a new ship.
According to aFacebook updatefrom the Navy, “the deceased [had] not been found” as of Monday morning.
“The wind waves will continue to be strong until tomorrow, which will also be a barrier [in the search,” the update read. “The search will focus on the direction of the waves with the direction of the shore. It will focus on island searches, including around the area where the boat sank”
source: people.com
