The search and rescue operation for 31 crew members missing after HTMS Sukhothai sank off Prachuap Khiri Khan has narrowed down its scope, the Royal Thai Navy said on Monday.
Navy spokesman Adm Pokkrong Monthatphalin said rescuers are focusing their efforts on a 300 square mile area 18 nautical miles (33 kilometres) south of the location where the corvette sank on Sunday night.
The targeted area was calculated from charting tides and winds in the Gulf of Thailand, he added.
Navy commander Adm Choengchai Chomchoengpaet said islands near the sunken vessel are also being combed.
HTMS Kraburi, HTMS Angthong, navy helicopters and navy planes were dispatched to engage in the search. They were joined by Royal Thai Air Force aircraft.
The navy chief said strong winds and high waves, the principal impediment to the search, would continue until at least Tuesday. Seventy-five crew members on board the Navy ship have been rescued.
The file photo of HTMS Sukhothai. (Photo: Royal Thai Navy)
The navy spokesman said 11 of the rescued officers were under treatment at Bang Saphan Hospital in Bang Saphan district in Prachuap Khiri Khan, while 61 were recovering at a shelter of the Tambon Mae Ramphueng Administration Organisation in Bang Saphan. Another two were picked up by a Straits Energy tanker which will transport them to the Map Taphut deep-sea port in Rayong.
The navy said 54 of the 61 at the shelter in tambon Mae Ramphueng were to return to their base in Sattahip district of Rayong in navy buses on Monday afternoon.
HTMS Sukhothai sank shortly before midnight on Sunday amid high waves and gusty winds in the Gulf of Thailand. The warship was patrolling the gulf when the incident took place about 20 miles off the Bang Saphan pier.
The navy commander said the ocean where the ship sunk was 40 metres deep and the navy plans to salvage the vessel after the completion of the search and rescue operation.