Thailand navy ship sinking: Race to rescue dozens of marines as vessel capsizes in strong winds

A Thai navy vessel has capsized in the Gulf of Thailand overnight, with warships and helicopters joining efforts to rescue more than 100 marines stranded by the incident.

The Royal Thai Navy confirmed on Monday that the HTMS Sukhothai warship, which was on a patrol, suffered an engine malfunction and started taking on water just before midnight nearly 20 nautical miles off the coast.

Strong winds blew seawater onto the US-built corvette and knocked out its electrical system on Sunday evening. The loss of power allowed more water to flow into the vessel, causing it to list and sink.

At least 75 sailors have been rescued and 31 were still in the water, the navy said.

Three frigates and two helicopters with mobile pumping machines were dispatched off Prachuap Khiri Khan province, south of Bangkok, to try to assist the disabled ship by removing seawater.

However, the strong winds continued to pose a challenge and these efforts failed.

The rescued marines were brought to the port of Bang Saphan in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, the navy said early on Monday. Although no casualties have been reported so far, three of those rescued had suffered critical injuries.

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The force shared images and video footage showing in orange vests in a black inflatable raft moving away from a ship in darkness.

A picture showed the grey vessel flipped over onto its side, while another image on a scanner screen showed the bow of the ship and a gun turret poking out above the waterline.

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A crew member said he had to float in the sea for three hours before he was rescued. The ship was buffeted by waves 10 feet high when it was sinking, the rescued person told Thai PBS. One sailor also told Thai Rath television that there were not enough life jackets because more people than usual were aboard the ship.

In comments broadcast by another station, PPTV, Navy Commander Admiral Choengchai Chomchoengpaet, appeared to confirm that was true. "This operation, they added staff from the Marine Corps and Air and Coastal Defence Command, about 30 people. This is why I think there were not enough life jackets," he said.

Admiral Pokkrong Monthatphalin, a navy spokesperson, said that high waves made it difficult to search for the missing from the sea. “We have to fly the helicopters and search for them from a bird’s eye view instead.”

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The search was conducted in an area of 16 square kilometers around the site of the sinking. “Our top priority now is to rescue all the sailors. We will plan to have the ship salvaged later,” he told the state broadcaster.

Ships were reportedly warned to stay ashore due to frequent storms in southern Thailand.

The ship's drowning is a significant blow to the Thai navy which had only seven corvettes. The force has only two Ratanakosin-class corvettes built in the US by Tacoma Boatbuilding Company in the 1980s.