Entering the third day of the search operation, authorities are still intensively searching for the two missing persons after a diving boat capsized off Phang-nga on Saturday.
The scuba diving tour boat named “Sawan Tour” capsized in the sea near Torinla Island, located approximately 4 nautical miles south of the Surin Islands National Park.
A fishing boat could rescue 16 tourists and crew members and they were safely transferred to the Kuraburi pier. However, two people including a 56-year-old British national, and the 67-year-old boat’s cook.
The Director of the Third Region Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Center has ordered the establishment of a search and rescue center for the victims of the abandoned underwater tour boat.
Aerial surveillance was conducted to support the joint search efforts by naval security units, and national park officers. Despite finding a life raft believed to be from the sunken boat near Tachai Island, approximately 20 nautical miles from the incident site, the missing persons have not been located.
Since last Friday, there have been several maritime incidents, both in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. Most incidents were successfully resolved with all passengers on board safely rescued.
Two incidents, including the sunken scuba diving tour boat off Phang-nga with two missing persons and a capsized fishing boat off Koh Chang in Trat Province, with six missing persons, are still actively being searched for by authorities. -819 (TNA)
