Fears grow for British woman missing after diving boat sinks off Thailand
Fears were growing for a British woman who went missing after the scuba boat she was on capsized off Thailand.
Millie Young, 57, originally from Brighton, and a female Thai crew member were still unaccounted for on Sunday evening, with rescuers growing increasingly concerned for the pair.
The vessel, believed to be part of a diving tour, sank in rough seas off a Thai island on Saturday morning.
The Thai Navy has been searching the area by land, sea and air as the frantic search stretched into a second day. But as night fell on Sunday, the search was called off until Christmas Day.
According to local media reports, the boat, called the Reggae Queen, hit rough waters around the Surin Islands archipelago in southern Thailand, a tourist hotspot for diving.
Ms Young was on the trip with friends, Jo and Phillip Degregorio, and their two children Oska and Daisy, who are also British.
The vessel had 18 people aboard when it was rocked by large waves and began to take on water, the Bangkok Post reported. It was thought to be around four nautical miles from the island chain at the time.
A Mayday call was made shortly before 9am and the boat sank shortly afterwards, according to an official from the Phang Nga Provincial Port Security Control Center.
“The boat was taking tourists on a snorkeling and diving trip. Immediate assistance was provided and 12 tourists were rescued by a passing fishing boat,” the official said.
Ms Young’s four friends were among the passengers pulled aboard a passing fishing trawler and taken to a nearby pier. They were reportedly pictured along with the other rescued tourists and four of the crew as they were returned to the shore.
While many passengers scrambled to safety, Ms Young and a female crew member were reported to have been dragged into the rough waters.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office told The Telegraph: “We are supporting the family of a British woman and are in contact with the local authorities after an incident in Thailand.”
The Thai Navy, along with helicopters and the national coast guard, have joined the search for Ms Young and the crew member.
Supoj Rodruang Na Nongkhai, the governor of Phang Nga province, said he had instructed all boats in the area to look out for the two missing women in the Andaman Sea region.
He said rescue teams were searching in the direction of the sea currents, which are believed to have carried the missing pair in a north-westerly direction.
Rear Admiral Pongmit Narongkul, the navy chief leading the effort, said: “The wind in the area is quite strong, which is an obstacle to the search. There are cargo and fishing ships in the area and they have been instructed to continue searching at night, until the missing people are found.”
Adding to fears for the women, thunderstorms and heavy rain have been forecast and could impede the search.
Ms Young, an artist, has been living in Thailand since 2007, according to a social media account linked to her. Her drawings and animation work featured in a 2009 exhibition at Bangkok’s Neilson Hays Library, according to the website Expat Life in Thailand.
The artwork was part of animation studies Ms Young was developing as part of her research for her PhD in design at Silpakorn University.
November and December are among the most dangerous months for sea conditions in southern Thailand, and coincide with a rush of tourists seeking winter sun.
The incident has brought renewed attention to safety standards in the popular tourist destination. A day before the accident that swept Ms Young away, a group of foreign tourists were rescued from a ferry that hit high waves and sank near Koh Tao.
A group of Russian tourists were also rescued after their boat capsized in Pattaya on Saturday night.
