The Thai and US navies are entering the fifth day of their joint operation to search for the remains of five crew members missing from sunken HTMS Sukhothai.
A search will be conducted in the main engine room, quartermaster clerk’s room and deck walkways today, according to the Royal Thai Navy’s Facebook page.
The corvette class vessel sank on the night of December 18, 2022, in heavy seas. Twenty-four crew were killed, five remain unaccounted for and the remainder of the complement were rescued.
Thirty-five Thai and 14 American naval divers are taking part in the 19-day salvage mission.The US has deployed the supply ship “Ocean Valor”, which is participating in the Cobra Gold multinational military exercise.
The Thai government has allocated Bt90 million for the Bt200-million mission, and the US has provided Bt110 million.
The operation has found that the corvette is resting upright on the seabed and has attracted a lot of marine life.
The divers have, so far, succeeded in retrieving the corvette’s nameplate and a Buddha statue from the wreck. They have also salvaged some weapons, which will be decommissioned.
The operation will not involve lifting the entire warship from the seabed, but will focus on collecting evidence, from both inside and outside the vessel, in an attempt to identify the exact cause of the sinking, as well as the destruction of hazardous materials.
Before the operation began, the Thai Navy outlined four steps for the salvage operation.
The first step is preparation and mobilization involving equipment testing, planning, and joint underwater training with the US Navy to ensure readiness before commencing the operation, according to the Thai News Agency.
