ROYAL Thai Navy and Marine Police together with Phuket residents sent out boats early this morning (June 12) to search for four fishermen missing in deep sea after their two long-tail boats sank near Maiton island with two others having been successfully rescued, PostToday reported.
At 8 a.m. Vice Admiral Choengchai Chomchoengphaet, commander of the Third Naval Area Command, as the director of the Disaster Relief Centre, quickly sent Royal Navy Boat Tor 229 to search for the four fishermen. He had been alerted by another group of fishermen that they had found some foam crates and the ID card of Mr Vithoon Mahawanasiri, 38, from Phayao province floating in the sea near Maiton island.
The two boats, which the six fishermen had rented with two being on one of them and four the other, had set sail from Phuket’s deep sea port at Makham Bay to go fishing last evening and sank about 1.5 miles away from this island.
The navy boat managed to pluck Mr Suthep Mahasap and Mr Arthit Panphumi from the sea and they were sent to the hospital after being brought ashore.
Pol Col Prasert Srikhunrat, head of Marine Police subdivision 8, said Marine Police Boat 522 joined the rescue operation this morning with the hunt for the four missing fishermen continuing.
The owner of the boats, Mr Arbee Wareesri, could not be reached, he added.
On July 5, 2018, two tourist boats capsized and sank near Phuket during a sudden storm. Forty-six people died and three were missing, all of whom were on the double-decker ship Phoenix PC Diving, which carried 101 people, including 89 tourists (all but 2 were Chinese nationals). All 42 passengers aboard the second boat, Serenita, were rescued, Wikipedia said.
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Top: Third Naval Area Command sailors rescuing the two fishermen, shown at right after they were plucked from the sea. Photos: PostToday
