LAEM CHABANG, Thailand – A fishing boat sank near the breakwater of Laem Chabang Pier, approximately 1.2 nautical miles from the mouth of Banglamung Canal, leaving one person missing at sea. One person survived by clinging to a floating fuel tank and made it back to shore.
The search team spoke with Chiang, the 23-year-old Cambodian survivor. He recounted that at around 5 a.m. on June 5, he and the boat owner (captain) took a small fishing boat with a long-tail engine to lay nets near the deep-water channel close to the breakwater of Laem Chabang Pier. While navigating the sea, the boat began to leak, and water started flooding in. Simultaneously, strong winds and waves caused the boat to capsize and sink.
Chiang managed to grab a fuel tank and attempted to swim back to shore. The boat owner clung to a wooden board and also tried to swim back. After about 10 minutes of swimming, Chiang looked back and saw that the boat owner had disappeared, presumably having drowned. He continued swimming until he reached a mussel farm pontoon, where he stayed until 11 a.m. when another fishing boat rescued him and brought him ashore. Despite efforts to find the boat owner, he was not found, prompting the call for rescue services.
The missing person is identified as Wichai Malison, 50, the boat owner. Rescue teams are currently intensifying their search efforts, using speedboats to patrol the coastline and the area where the boat sank. As of now, the fate of the boat captain remains unknown.
