Rescuers fear that a Brighton woman was trapped in a boat that sank in rough seas off the coast of Thailand two days before Christmas.
Sixteen people were saved but Millie Young, 57, an artist, from Brighton, and the boat’s cook Samniang Chaichana, 67, remain missing four days after the Reggae Queen capsized.
The Thai authorities have continued to search for the pair, with a helicopter and dozens of ships taking part in the operation.
But hopes are fading of finding them after a report on Christmas Day that an inflatable life raft had been found about 20 nautical miles from where the tour boat sank.
Ms Young was with four friends and eight other tourists and a crew of five when the boat set off from Thap Lamu Pier, about 25 miles north of Phuket island.
They sailed from the mainland departure point on Friday afternoon (22 December) and Ms Young was last seen the next day.
Acording to the Daily Mail: “Ms Young was on a dream trip with family friends from her home town when the boat sank.
“Parents Jo and Phillip Degregorio and their two children Oksa and Daisy were pulled to safety by a passing fishing trawler but the Brighton artist has not yet been found.”
Ms Young was understood to have been living in Thailand since 2007, splitting her time between there and Britain.
Recently, she met her family friends at Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Bangkok, before heading to Phang Nga, where the clear coastal waters are popular with divers and snorkellers.
They set out to sea last Friday but, according to officials, a mayday call was made shortly before 9am on Saturday as waves battered the Reggae Queen as it approached the Surin Islands.
The vessel was a tourist boat, taking passengers to explore the idyllic tropical islands just under 40 miles from the mainland Thai province of Phang Nga and for overnight diving trips.
Pichet Songtan, from the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre (Thai-MECC), said: “The rescue committee is working to find the sunken ship as quickly as possible. We believe that the missing people are trapped inside.”
Captain Songtan said that the boat was forced to heave to – or come to a stop – because the waves were so strong.
The waves were reported to be more than 10ft (3m) high and slapping hard against the side of the vessel which was taking on too much water for the pump to expel.
The crew were reported to have awoken the passengers and deployed the life rafts for evacuation before the boat sank.
Captain Songtan said: “The mission plan consists of searching on the surface, on the beach and from aircraft and requesting co-operation from nearby vessels.
“The missing persons are likely to be stuck inside the ship. We believe that they were unable to escape and were pushed down by the water.
“We are still waiting for the correct latitude and longitude to be determined. When it is, deep sea scuba divers are ready to search further.”
Rear Admiral Pongmit Narongkul, naval chief of staff for the region, said: “A navy patrol plane has been flying across the area to search for the two victims along with navy boats.
“An inflatable life raft was found 20 nautical miles from where the ship sank but there was nobody inside.
“The flight path search area has been expanded to the western area of the Surin Islands, with a radius of 15 nautical miles from the forecast point.
“The missing people have not been found but the search is continuing.”
Phang Nga provincial governor Supoj Rodruang Na Nongkhai said that he had ordered all boats in the area to look out for the two missing people in the Andaman Sea region.
He said that rescue teams were searching in the direction of the sea currents which could have carried the two missing women in a northwest direction.
The governor said: “The missing person is a British woman and a Thai member of the crew. We are putting all of our resources into finding them.”
