Seven Myanmar crewman stranded at sea off Phuket rescued by Royal Thai Navy
Darawan Naknakhon


The Myanmar crew were rescued by and brought back to Phuket aboard the HTMS Saiburi.

PHUKET: -- Seven Myanmar nationals stranded at sea were rescued last night by the Royal Thai Navy about 150 nautical miles off the west coast of Phuket were due to be brought safely ashore, to Phuket Deep Sea Port this morning (December 31)

Though eight crewman of the 27-metre-long Aung Chat Sar – a timber cargo vessel originating in Myanmar and bound for Penang – were initially reported stranded at sea, the Royal Thai Navy has since clarified that there was only seven stranded crewman, who've all been saved.

The RTN reported the location of the rescue to be 150 nautical miles off Phuket, contrasting previous reports that the men were stranded 100 nautical miles from the island.

The rescue operation was led by the HTMS Saiburi, a Type 053 frigate which was deployed yesterday at around noon from the Area 3 Naval Base in Phang Nga.

Full story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/seven-myanmar-crewman-stranded-at-sea-off-phuket-rescued-by-royal-thai-navy-55638.php


-- Phuket News 2015-12-31

Well done to all those involved in the rescue.

Yes well done indeed. Gold Braid glinting in the sunshine...They really do deserve some submarines for their deep water port, to make such rescues much easier in the future...

It would be interesting to known what led to them being "stranded at sea." Engine failure? Did they hit a reef? Taking on water? Were they seafood slaves put into a rubber dinghy at gunpoint for attempted mutiny? <- Let's not start a rumor here; I'm brainstorming. The story is incomplete without that information.

Well, scratch what I said about seafood slaves. It was a timber cargo vessel.

They don't look very happy.