Sequential press reports covering the sinking.
December 18, 2022 6:29 PM 38
Thai corvette HTMS Sukhothai listing starboard after taking on water on Dec. 18, 2022. Royal Thai Navy Photo
The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) corvette HTMS Sukhothai (FS-442) sank in the Gulf of Thailand at 11:30 p.m. local time on Sunday 18 December following a loss of power and subsequent flooding of the ship, according to the service.
The RTN’s official Twitter account posted photos and videos of the incident the same night, stating that Sukhothai was on patrol 20 miles from the port in Bang Saphan district, Central Thailand when strong waves caused water to enter into the electrical systems of the ship which resulted in a loss of power and control for the ship along with water entering the hull resulting in the ship tilting.
The RTN dispatched the frigates HTMS Bhumibol Adulyadej (FFG-471) and HTMS Kraburi (FFG-457) and landing platform dock HTMS Angthong (LPD-791) to assist Sukhothai though only Kraburi was close enough to reach the scene before the ship sank. Two RTN helicopters were also dispatched to the scene. The 110 sailors of Sukhothai’s crew were safely evacuated off the ship to the frigate Kraburi, according to the RTN. Strong winds and waves prevented recovery efforts and the ship sank at 11:30 p.m. local time, according to the RTN.
Sukhothai was one of two Ratanakosin-class corvettes built in the United States by the now-closed Tacoma Boatbuilding Company with lead ship HTMS Ratanakosin (FS-441) commissioned in 1986 and Sukhothai commissioned in 1987. The RTN’s other corvettes are the three U.K.-designed and locally built Khamronsin class corvettes which entered service in 1992 and two Tapi class corvettes built by American Shipbuilding Corporation and Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Corporation and commissioned respectively in 1971 and 1973.
Thailand currently has a Type 071E LPD on order with China which has just completed its sea trials in China though its procurement of a single S26T Yuan class submarine from China continues to be stalled owing to the fact that the original contract for the submarine called for the German MTU396 diesel engines to be installed which cannot be fulfilled due to MTU refusing to export the engines to China as it was a military item under a European Union embargo on military items exported to China. The embargo was placed in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacres. China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co (CSOC), has offered an improved version of its CH620D engine but RTN Chief ADM Choengchai Chomchoengpaet said on November 22 that the RTN wanted the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) to guarantee the engine. Thai newspaper The Nation reported that the RTN will make a decision in June 2023 on the program and that the engine must undergo certification by the People’s Liberation Army Navy.
Thai navy searching for 31 missing sailors after ship sank
By Associated Press
9:38pm Dec 20, 2022
Thai navy ships and helicopters searched for more than 30 sailors still missing more than 17 hours after their warship sank in rough seas in the Gulf of Thailand.
As of Monday afternoon, 75 sailors from the HTMS Sukhothai corvette had been rescued and 31 were still missing, the navy said. The high waves that caused the accident had lessened since Sunday night’s sinking, but were still high enough to endanger small boats, the navy said.
A rescued crew member interviewed by Thai PBS television said he had to float in the sea for three hours before he was rescued. He said the ship was buffeted by waves 3 metres high as it was sinking Sunday night, complicating rescue efforts.
In this photo provided by the Royal Thai Navy, the HTMS Sukhothai corvette warship lists off the coast of Prachuap Khiri Khan province, Thailand. (AP)
“The waves are still high and we cannot search for them from the horizontal line. We have to fly the helicopters and search for them from a bird’s eye view instead,” navy spokesman Adm. Pokkrong Monthatphalin told Thai PBS.
Eleven of the rescued sailors were being treated in a hospital. The navy denied a local media report that one death had been confirmed, saying the fatality was from an accident involving another boat.
Strong winds blew seawater onto the HTMS Sukhothai and knocked out its electrical system Sunday evening, making control of the ship difficult. The navy dispatched three frigates and two helicopters with mobile pumping machines to try to assist the disabled ship by removing the seawater, but couldn’t do so because of the strong winds.
The loss of power allowed more seawater to flow into the vessel, causing it to list and sink.
The ship was hit by severe weather and large waves.
The Sukhothai was built in Tacoma, Washington, and commissioned in 1987. With a maximum displacement of 959 tons and a length of 76.8 meters, it is about midsize for a corvette, a type of armed vessel that typically is used for patrolling close offshore waters.
Royal Thai Navy May Try to Raise the Wreck of HMTS Sukhothai
PUBLISHED DEC 21, 2022
The Royal Thai Navy is considering a salvage operation to raise the wreck of the lost corvette HTMS Sukhothai, according to public broadcaster Thai PBS.
The minesweeper Bang Rachan has reportedly been dispatched with a small sub to survey the wreck site, located about 20 miles of Bang Saphan. The Bang Rachan was built by Lurssen for the Thai Navy in the 1980s, and she was refitted with modern systems by Thales in 2019.
The survey results will inform decisionmaking about the possibility of a salvage mission, which would likely be undertaken by a contractor. Chinese state-owned salvage company COES (formerly Shanghai Salvage) is the dominant wreck removal bidder in the region and has conducted similar complex refloat operations – notably the raising of the ferry Sewol, which lay at approximately the same depth. The final price paid for that project was approximately $110 million, though the contractor’s claimed costs were higher.
In the near-term, the search for surviving crewmembers from HMTS Sukhothai continues, though officials acknowledge that the odds are diminishing.
An additional vessel has been added to the search, along with coastal and near-shore patrols. 23 crewmembers remain missing, the majority either senior enlisteds or officers.
Coroners have identified the remains of the six bodies recovered from the water earlier in the week; like the missing, the deceased are primarily of middle rank. The bodies will be flown to U-Tapao Airport, where they will be given a military funeral ceremony with full state honors, presided over by naval commander Admiral Choengchai Chomchoengphaet.
76 survivors have been rescued, including 18 who were hospitalized and 58 who have returned home to their families. Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn has extended them royal patronage to cover their needs.
According to an official statement from Royal Thai Navy, the Sukhothai encountered strong winds and waves on Sunday while operating in the Gulf of Thailand about 20 miles off Bang Saphan. As the vessel rolled in the waves, seawater entered a side exhaust pipe, affecting her engines and electrical equipment and causing a blackout.
More water entered the vessel, causing her to list further over. Her pumps were unable to control the flooding, and a responding vessel could not transfer over salvage pumps because the surface conditions were too rough. At 0012 hours on Sunday, the vessel capsized and sank.
At the time of the casualty, Sukhothai was under way for a naval award ceremony at Chumphon, and she had about 30 supernumeraries on board. Adm. Chomchoengphaet has confirmed that there were not enough floatation devices for both the crew and the extra personnel.
In addition, the crew reported difficulty in launching life rafts in severe surface conditions. “The incident happened very fast. The portside listed first and life rafts could not be launched there. The starboard side faced the stormy sea and it was difficult to release life rafts,” regional commander Admiral Adung Pan-iam told reporters.