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The Royal Thai Navy mentioned Monday that search and rescue personnel have been nonetheless attempting to save lots of 31 sailors who have been thrown into the Gulf of Thailand in a single day when a naval ship sank after being instantly flooded with water and shedding energy.
In a sequence of posts on Fb and Twitter, naval officers mentioned the ship, generally known as the HTMS Sukhothai, had been on patrol about 20 miles from a port in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province when gusty winds and powerful waves induced its hull to tilt.
Because the 35-year-old ship swayed, officers mentioned, some seawater flowed into {the electrical} system by means of an exhaust pipe, inflicting an influence outage that rendered the ship’s equipment and steering mechanisms ineffective. Because the crew misplaced management of the ship, officers mentioned, extra water quickly crammed the hull, inflicting the HTMS Sukhothai to tilt additional.
The crew referred to as for assist, and the Royal Navy dispatched different boats and helicopters to the scene. However the HTMS Sukhothai sank simply after midnight, officers mentioned. By about 1 a.m., helicopters had arrived and launched rescue rafts, a Thai Navy spokesman mentioned, including that greater than 70 of the 106 crew members had been secured.
As of about 10 a.m. native time on Monday, the spokesman, Adm. Pokkrong Monthatpalin, mentioned the authorities have been nonetheless attempting to rescue 31 naval officers.
In a phone interview with The New York Instances, Admiral Monthatpalin mentioned the darkish of evening had made it tough to find out whether or not each officer had made it to a ship throughout early rescue efforts. However he mentioned all the officers, together with these nonetheless within the water, ought to have been sporting a life vest.
“Our fundamental precedence now’s to look and rescue our fellow boatmen,” Admiral Monthatpalin mentioned. “All of them.”
A lot of the greater than 70 individuals whom he mentioned had been rescued as of Monday morning have been taken to a close-by port, officers mentioned; some have been taken to a hospital for therapy whereas others have been taken to a shelter.
The HTMS Sukhothai was out on regular patrol responsibility to observe potential climate hazards. As soon as all 31 sailors have been rescued, the navy will set about attempting to rescue the ship itself, Admiral Monthatpalin mentioned.
“We now have to be actually cautious as a result of there’s gasoline within the ship,” he added. “We don’t need to have an oil spill.”
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