Thai Navy completes salvage of sunken ship

The team takes a photo with some of the items retrieved from the sunken HTMS Sukhothai. (Photo: Royal Thai Navy)

Bangkok (VNA) - The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) on March 12 announced the end of a 19-day-long operation to salvage the sunken HTMS Sukhothai, setting the stage for the creation of a memorial monument.

The salvage operation was undertaken by RTN in coordination with the US Navy’s Ocean Valor as part of their Cobra Gold joint military exercise, beginning on February 22.

Admiral Chartchai Thongsa-art, who led the operation, said 47 scuba divers from RTN and US Navy were mobilised for the operation and all divers safely performed a total of 82 dives or 67 hours and 53 minutes underwater.

Four missions were conducted during the salvage operation, including finding the remains of five missing crew members, investigating the ship's mechanics, disarming weapons, and retrieving sentimental items.

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 for investigation, he said, adding that it could take at least a month to retrieve the frigate's CCTV footage.

A memorial monument has been planned for the Sattahip district of Chon Buri to honour those onboard the frigate, according to Chartchai.

The vessel sank about 36.9km off the coast of Prachuap Khiri Khan's Bang Saphan district on December 19, 2022. Of the 105 people on board, 76 were rescued, 24 were found dead, and five remain missing./.