Thailand’s military is searching for 33 marines who went missing after a corvette sank overnight in choppy waters in the Gulf of Thailand, the navy said. For the operation, warships and helicopters have been sent out.
Just before midnight, the HTMS Sukhothai battleship sank due to an engine failure. The missing marines are being looked for off the coast of the province of Prachuap Khiri Khan, south of Bangkok, by three naval ships and two helicopters.
There were 106 passengers in total, 73 of whom were saved during a nighttime rescue operation in heavy weather. The remaining 33 had to abandon the vessel.
A group of personnel in orange vests in a black inflatable raft can be seen moving away from the ship in images and video footage posted on the navy’s Twitter account.
It was not immediately clear how many rafts had been deployed.
The Sukhothai is a US-built corvette that has been in use since 1987.
Strong waves hit it on Sunday and it tilted to one side as a consequence. It flooded with seawater, navy spokesperson Admiral Pogkrong Monthardpalin said.
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