SURAT THANI: The search resumed on Wednesday for three people still missing after a vehicle ferry operated by Raja Ferry Plc capsized in stormy seas off Koh Samui on Saturday night.
On board Raja 4 when it departed from Koh Samui were three 10-wheel lorries loaded with compressed garbage and a pickup, and 16 people - 12 Raja Ferry employees and the drivers of the four vehicles.
In the initial search, 11 of people were safely rescued, and two were found dead. Three were still missing.
On Wednesday morning, VAdm Samroeng Chanso, commander of the 2nd Naval Area, and Suthipong Klai-udom, the deputy Surat Thani governor, went on board a navy vessel being used as a command centre and met with three teams of divers taking part in the search.
One team comprises 10 divers from the Seal unit of the 2nd Naval Area, another 14 foreign diving instructors from Koh Tao, and the third 10 divers from Surat Thani.
Of the foreigners from Koh Tao, one is a Dane, Ivan Karadzic, who took part in the rescue of the 13 members of a junior football team and their coach trapped in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex in Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai, in 2018.
The search resumed at 7am on Wednesday, with divers spreading out from the command vessel in rubber boats to the spot where Raja 4 sunk.
The sunken ferry was earlier found by divers in 20 metres of water not far from where it capsized. Two of the lorries, with about 90 tonnes of garbage compressed in blocks, were found near the ferry.
The divers did not find the other lorry, which was loaded with electronic and recyclable waste.