Cargo Ship Capsized Off Thailand. 11 Crew Members Missing

Bangladeshi cargo ship MV Hope capsized in heavy seas south of Phuket, Thailand on Thursday morning with 17 crew members onboard, the Royal Thai Navy reported.

Six MV Hope’s crew members were rescued. Five of them were found in a lifeboat and rescued by a German container ship Buxmoon. The Royal Thai Navy managed to recue one injured sailor by a helicopter and transferred him to Phuket Hospital for recovery.

The Navy told local news portals that the search is ongoing for other 11 sailors that have gone missing.

The ship was sailing from Lumut port in Malaysia to Chittagong port, Bangladesh when it capsized due to high waves reaching up to four meters.

The MV Hope’s certificate showed that the vessel had been overloaded by 1,000 metric tonnes of cargo more than its capacity, which might have caused the accident, according to the information provided to Chittagong Port Authority by the owners, BD News 24 reports.

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World Maritime News Staff, July 5, 2013; Image: The Royal Thai Navy