BANGKOK – The Royal Thai Navy has released the first underwater images of the HTMS Sukhothai. The warship disappeared under a four-meter wave Strong winds in the Gulf of Thailand 11 days ago.
The US-built corvette capsized about 37 km off the west coast of Thailand’s Prachuap Khiri Khan province on December 18, sinking with 105 crew on board.
On Wednesday, the bodies of three more Sukhothai crew members were found on islands off Chumphon province.
As of Thursday morning, the death toll in what the Navy described as “historic losses” was 24 sailors.
As soon as the corvette sank, or shortly after it sank, 76 crew members were rescued and brought safely to shore. Some had to abandon ship without life jackets and got lost in the rough seas.
Photos and video of the wreck were taken by a team of undersea drones and divers who first arrived at the ship on Wednesday.
On Thursday, we saw Seafox’s drone and diving team return to the sinking site at a depth of 40 meters while the team was still searching for the bodies of the five missing crew members.
The team was also tasked with investigating the damage in preparation for the mission to lift the Sukhothai from the seafloor.
HTMS Rawee orbits over a sunken warship as a base of operations for divers. The search mission began on Thursday with her 11th day, and she has five left, the Navy said Thursday morning.
Of the 24 dead victims, 20 have been identified and the results of the remaining DNA tests are pending.THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, AFP
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/thai-navy-releases-first-images-of-sunken-warship-as-divers-continue-with-search Thai Navy releases first images of sunken warship as divers continue search