PRACHUAP KhIRI KHAN: The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) announced on Tuesday the end of a 19-day operation to salvage the sunken HTMS Sukhothai, with the next step being the establishment of a memorial monument.
The vessel sank in the Gulf of Thailand on Dec 19, 2022. Of the 105 people on board, 76 were rescued, 24 were found dead, and five remain missing.
The salvage operation by the US Navy's Ocean Valor kicked off on Feb 22 as part of the US Navy's Cobra Gold joint military exercise.
The operation wrapped up on Monday after 67 hours and 53 minutes' operational time, said Adm Chartchai Thongsa-art, Commanding General of the Operation Squadron and director of the operation.
The frigate was sunk at a depth of 50 metres, some 36.9 kilometres, or 22 nautical miles, from land in Bang Saphan district.
No chemical or oil leakage was reported, according to Adm Chartchai.
During the salvage operation, the navy established an Operation Centre at the Port Office. The vessels involved in the operation included the Ocean Valor, seven RTN ships, and two helicopters.
The divers were divided into two teams. The first consisted of 14 divers, seven each from the RTN and US Navy, who dove with surface supply air equipment and used the Ocean Valor as their base. The other consisted of 40 scuba divers from the RTN, with HTMS Mannai as their base.
All divers, after conducting a total of 82 dives or 67 hours and 53 minutes underwater, were reported safe, said Adm Chartchai.
Four missions were conducted during the salvage operation, including finding the remains of five crew members, investigating the ship's mechanics, disarming weapons, and retrieving sentimental items.
Adm Chartchai said that 58 pieces of evidence were successfully retrieved. However, no remains of the missing men were found during the operation.
All retrieved items were transferred to the Juk Samet Port of Sattahip Naval Base by the Ocean Valor on Tuesday for investigation. Adm Chartchai said it could take at least a month to retrieve the frigate's CCTV footage.
A memorial monument will be erected in Sattahip district of Chon Buri, Adm Chartchai said.
This will pay tribute to those onboard the frigate when it sank, he said.
Robert F Godec, the US ambassador to Thailand, said this operation was another example of how the RTN and US Navy successfully work together.