Thailand’s navy searches for missing marines in race against time

Reuters:

BANG SAPHAN, Thailand, Dec 20 (Reuters) – Navy ships and rescue teams searched waters off central Thailand on Tuesday in a race against the clock to locate 30 missing marines, who abandoned a warship that sank at the weekend in choppy waters.

The HTMS Sukhothai warship, a U.S.-made corvette in use since 1987, suffered an engine malfunction and went down just before midnight on Sunday about 20 nautical miles off the coast.

The vessel was carrying 105 military personnel when it capsized after being knocked over by big waves as water flooded its engines.

There were 75 seamen rescued from the boat but dozens more had to abandon ship in rafts and wearing life jackets.

Vice Admiral Pichai Lorchusakul, the regional navy commander, said finding the men on Tuesday would be critical given the time they had been exposed to the elements.

“Life jacket, life buoy and their floating technique allow us 48 hours to save their lives,” he said late on Monday. “We will try to do as much as we can to save them.”