TRAT: Seven crew of a fishing boat that will capsized in a storm were rescued yesterday after nine hrs in a wave-tossed sea clinging to lifebuoys.
The Thailand Maritime Enforcement Command Centre Region 1 at Koh Kut received the call for help about 11. 30pm on Tuesday. The small Thai-owned fishing boat Chokmanasnan 1 capsized in a storm off Koh Kut and its 7 crew were washed into the sea, frantically clinging to lifebuoys and praying to be rescued.
A navy patrol boat, Tor 227 , was sent from your pier in Khlong Yai district to look for the crew.
About 8am yesterday, the 7 men, comprising the Thai captain and six Cambodians, were plucked from the ocean to safety. They were taken ashore from Khlong Yai boat dock and taken to Khlong Yai Hospital meant for health checks.
All had been exhausted after nine nerve-wracking hours overnight, adrift in a storm-tossed sea off this particular eastern coastal province.
Manop Luang-on, chief of the Trat Marine Workplace, said a caution had been issued to get fishing boats of less than 10 gross tonnes to avoid going out to sea due to the raining conditions. Larger vessels could still head out, but were recommended to follow weather reports.
Little passenger boats plying the islands and rate boats should stay ashore until at least today, he said.
Large rain in most of the country is expected to continue into these days, with strong storm winds forecast to whip up waves in the upper Andaman Ocean and the Gulf of Thailand.
The Meteorological Department said a strong monsoon trough lies across the North bleeding right into a lower-pressure cell on the Northeast of Thailand. The strong southwest monsoon prevails on the Andaman Sea as well as the Gulf of Asia. Rain is prediction in all five locations.
Weighty to very heavy rain is anticipated in the North, the Northeast, the Main Plains including Bangkok and its vicinity, the East and the Southern.
The particular department said solid waves in the Andaman and the upper Gulf are likely to reach 2-4 metres in height and also higher in the event of thunderstorms.