The Thai navy says 31 sailors are missing after a warship with more than 100 crew members capsized and sank during a storm in the Gulf of Thailand.
HTMS Sukhothai sank Sunday night after water flooded her controls.
On Monday, authorities said they had rescued 75 crew members, but 31 were still missing in rough seas.
“It has been more than 12 hours but we are continuing to search Search parties worked through the night to find survivors, as the operation continued Monday with help from the Air Force. The Navy also announced an investigation into the cause of the disaster.
“This is almost unprecedented in the history of our force, especially on a ship that is still actively deployed,” spokesman Admiral Pogkrong Monthardpalin said.
Officials said the vessel sank after taking on water that flooded its hull and shorted out its control room.
With the power outage, the crew struggled to maintain control of the vessel, which struck the side before sinking around 23:30 local time (1630 GMT) on Sunday.
The ship was patrolling 32 km (20 miles) east of Bang Saphan in Prachuap Khiri Khan province when it was caught in the storm on Sunday. Dramatic photos posted on the Thai Navy’s Twitter account show the vessel listing to its starboard side and rescue vessels trying to find survivors in rough waters.
Also read: Ukraine War: United States President Joe Biden Willing To Meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin
Three warships and helicopters were sent to help, but only HTMS Kraburi reached the ship before she sank.
The frigate has picked up most of Sukhothai’s crew, the navy said. Sailors wearing life jackets have been found in the water and on life rafts. The Navy has released a few details about their condition. The local media published photos of the medical staff at the DOK and the crew members in the stretchers.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Casca released a statement on Monday that confirmed that officials are investigating the disaster.
“I follow the news closely – about five people are seriously injured,” he said.
The HTMS Sukhothai was built for the Thai navy in the United States in the mid -the 1980s.
