The Venus 14, a Thai-registered fishing fuel-supply vessel, sank on Wednesday morning in the Gulf of Thailand, about 27 nautical miles from the entrance to Sattahip Naval Base in Chon Buri, and six crew members are missing, the Royal Thai Navy said. The First Naval Area Command has begun a search and rescue operation, deploying the patrol boat Tor 113 and a maritime surveillance aircraft to look for the crew and locate the sunken vessel, and warnings have been issued to other vessels in nearby waters.
The navy is also preparing for a possible oil leak, coordinating with the Marine Department on pollution response; the tugboat HTMS Panyi and a helicopter are on standby with oil-spill equipment. How much fuel the Venus 14 was carrying when it went down is not yet known.