Thailand launches rescue operation for 33 missing sailors after navy ship sinks

[bust]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-19/thailand-navy-ship-sinks-33-sailors-missing/101789240?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

Thailand's military has deployed warships and helicopters to search for 33 marines missing after a naval vessel sank overnight in choppy waters in the Gulf of Thailand.

Key points:

• The HTMS Sukhothai went down just before midnight (local time) about 20 nautical miles off the coast
• An overnight rescue mission in bad weather secured 73 of the 106 people aboard
• Some 33 other crew were forced to abandon ship, the navy said

Three navy vessels and two helicopters were sent to find the missing corvette HTMS Sukhothai off Prachuap Khiri Khan province, south of Bangkok.

The warship suffered an engine malfunction and went down just before midnight (local time) about 20 nautical miles off the coast.

An overnight rescue mission in bad weather rescued 73 of the 106 people aboard, the navy said, with the remaining 33 forced to abandon ship.

The navy posted images and video footage on its Twitter account showing a group of personnel in orange vests in a black inflatable raft moving away from a ship in darkness as waves swelled around it.

It was not immediately clear how many rafts had been deployed.

The Sukhothai, a US-built corvette in use since 1987, was hit by strong waves on Sunday, forcing it it to tilt to one side before becoming flooded with seawater, navy spokesperson Admiral Pogkrong Monthardpalin said.

A picture shared by the navy showed the grey vessel flipped over onto its side, while another image on a scanner screen showed the bow of the ship and a gun turret poking above the waterline as it sank.

https://twitter.com/prroyalthainavy/status/1604515919568388096?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1604515919568388096|twgr^bb13ed3dfeca7f0134e763a2c2c0eb19a5301519|twcon^s1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fnews%2F2022-12-19%2Fthailand-navy-ship-sinks-33-sailors-missing%2F101789240

[Coss]

I heard this and wondered...

1st rule of boating, locate and check the bung.

Captain, "Is the bung in?"

Boat Dreg. "Yes Sir, all water tight Sir!"

Certainly looks like instability due to water ingress, to me - aligns with reports engine troubles, as engines don't work well when flooded.

 

Released on December 19 by the Royal Thai Navy, the photo shows the HTMS Sukhotha warship on its side before sinking in the Gulf of Thailand, off the coast of Bangsaphan district in Prachuab Kiri Khan province. ( Image Source : Twitter )

[Coss]

and - see comments in the twitter-  vis: "Somebody must have left some watertight doors and hatches open I was on a fast frigate and went through a hurricane and water didn't get into the ship" - 

 

Thailand's military has deployed warships and helicopters to search for 31 marines missing after a naval vessel sank overnight in choppy waters in the Gulf of Thailand

Three navy vessels and two helicopters were sent to find the missing corvette HTMS Sukhothai off Prachuap Khiri Khan province, south of Bangkok.

The warship suffered an engine malfunction and went down just before midnight (local time) about 20 nautical miles off the coast.

An overnight rescue mission in bad weather rescued 75 of the 106 people aboard, the navy said, with the remaining 31 forced to abandon ship.

The navy posted images and video footage on its Twitter account showing a group of personnel in orange vests in a black inflatable raft moving away from a ship in darkness as waves swelled around it.

It was not immediately clear how many rafts had been deployed.

The Sukhothai, a US-built corvette in use since 1987, was hit by strong waves on Sunday, forcing it it to tilt to one side before becoming flooded with seawater, navy spokesperson Admiral Pogkrong Monthardpalin said.

A picture shared by the navy showed the grey vessel flipped over onto its side, while another image on a scanner screen showed the bow of the ship and a gun turret poking above the waterline as it sank.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-19/thailand-navy-ship-sinks-31-sailors-missing/101789240

[Coss]

and - 

Strong winds tilted the 252-foot (76.8-meter) long corvette HTMS Sukhothai, allowing sea water to enter an exhaust pipe and subsequently shut down the ship’s electrical ---system, a Thai navy statement said.

---

Exhaust pipes normally, are air and water tight all the way to the combustion chambers of the engine? result should be seized engine, or am I wrong?

In any case what are electrical systems doing in the exhaust pipe?

 

 

[Mekong]

Of course they are or else the crew would die from Carbon Monoxide poisoning and the exhaust comes out of the Smokestack / Funnel usually the highest point on the ship to prevent poisoning the crew and to prevent water entering the engine so IMHO engine failure did not cause the ship to capsize but was a consequence of such when the ship was listing and the smokestack was closer to the water and could be filled by water from waves.

Main Electrical System is powered from the Engine so Electrical failure due to Engine failure is to be expected and the reason the EDG (Emergency Diesel Generator) didn’t “Kick In” was because it’s exhaust utilizes the same smokestack. Obviously UPS took over for Emergency Lighting, Radio Communications, PA Systems and Computer Systems, Power Systems on Ships are just like shore based facilities.

Even though the sea was a bit choppy not exactly North Sea or North Atlantic scale waves and nothing to worry a warship being operated correctly.

My two cents worth would be to examine the use of compensated ballast, which is when a fuel tank is depleted of diesel it is then filled with water to maintain buoyancy. I would wager that ballasting wasn’t done correctly thereby causing the ship to sit high in the water and having a higher center of gravity hence more susceptible to rolling with the waves.

 

[Coss]

I'll stick with the bung not being in, theory ( or other opening not being closed )

"It's hot! open all the windows!"

[Mekong]

But if “The Plug wasn’t in” as you state then surely that is what the Bilge Pumps are designed and installed for? It would take more than a couple of open portholes to sink a battleship.

Ballast and Buoyancy makes a lot more sense.

[bust]

Wonder if they radioed the German Coast Guard 😃

[My Penis is hungry]

I read recently due to keeping investations away that ships entering ports must empty there bilge water a long way out, making the last part of the journey sitting high.

 

But of local shouldn't be the case which could3an as comrade Mekong points out they failed to take on more water as ballest.

[Coss]

according to this

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/12/21/asia/thai-warship-sinks-not-enough-life-jackets-intl-hnk-ml/index.html

...He said the ship sank after seawater entered and disabled its power systems.

Waves were between 3 and 4 meters (10 feet to 13 feet) high at the time and the water temperature was about 29 degrees Celsius (84 degress Fahrenheit).

Water entered the front portion of the 252-foot (76.8-meter) long warship around 8:45 p.m. Sunday, Cherngchai said.

The flooding continued for more than three hours, eventually disabling the ship’s engine and electrical systems and dooming efforts to pump it out.

Rescue teams in helicopters tried to lower water pumps to the ship but the efforts were thwarted as it began to tilt heavily.

The admiral dismissed a suggestion that the almost 40-year-old ship might not have been in proper shape to handle the high seas, saying it had been upgraded several times in recent years.

____________________

Front portion? Would that be the bow? 

At the risk of being obtuse, the bow on such a vessel, would be more than 10 to 13 feet in height, above seal level at normal trim.

So the vessel was water tight, or it wasn't.

But picking holes, in face saving bullshit, from tin pot admirals, isn't gonna get to the truth.

I'll stick with the bung not being in, theory ( or other opening not being closed, including hatches, doors and windows on the front portion )

"It's hot! open all the windows!"