The Chamnina left Phi Phi Island and was heading to Koh Lanta with Capt Wijit Ngankhang and one crewman, Yothee Sandee, 37, when it went missing near Koh Rok from about 6pm on Wednesday (Aug 3).
The boat had run out of fuel near Koh Rok, but the two managed to acquire some fuel at the island, but went missing after again after leaving the area. (See story here.)
Search efforts by sea to locate the boat and its missing complement of two were called off due to heavy seas and strong winds, Capt Pongjak Uraiman, commanding officer of the Naval Air Squadron at the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command, based at Cape Panwa, said today (Aug 5).
“We took out a helicopter to search for them near Koh Rok at around noon today and expanded the search area, and our team found them near Koh Libong at 4:30pm,” Capt Pongjak said.
“Capt Wijit said they ran out of gas a second time and were left drifting at sea. The strong winds pushed them into the location where they were found,” he added.
Both Capt Wijit and Mr Yothee were safe and had no injury when they rescued, Capt Pongjak confirmed.