Thai Navy Searches for Six After Fuel Tanker Sinks Off Chon Buri

The Royal Thai Navy is searching for six missing crew members after the Thai-registered fuel tanker Venus 14 sank in the Gulf of Thailand off Sattahip district, Chon Buri, on 11 Nov 2026. The First Naval Area Command was notified at around 9am that the vessel had gone down roughly 27 nautical miles from the mouth of the waterway at Sattahip Naval Base, on a bearing of 227 degrees, according to RTN spokesperson Chanin Sriyaphai. The navy deployed patrol boat Tor 113 and a maritime surveillance aircraft to locate the wreck and search for survivors, while warning other vessels in the area to navigate with caution. Venus 14 reportedly supplied fuel to fishing boats, prompting concerns over a possible oil spill. The navy is coordinating with the Marine Department to evaluate environmental risks, though the quantity of fuel aboard at the time of sinking has not been disclosed. As a precaution, the navy placed tugboat HTMS Panyi, a helicopter, response crews and oil dispersal equipment on standby, and said it was monitoring the wreck site and surrounding waters to limit potential environmental damage. The identities of the missing crew, the tanker's owner and its operator have not been released, and the cause of the sinking remains unknown. The incident follows a fishing boat sinking off Sattahip in September that killed three crew members and left four missing, and a collision earlier this week off Pattaya in which a speedboat struck a fishing boat, injuring nine people, including foreign tourists.