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Fears are growing for a British woman still missing three days after a scuba diving boat sank off the coast of Thailand.
Millie Young, a 57-year-old artist from Brighton, was reportedly among 18 passengers aboard the Reggae Queen tour boat when it sank in stormy waters near the Ko Torinla island, in the Andaman Sea, on Saturday morning.
While 16 of the passengers were rescued, Ms Young and a female Thai crew member are yet to be found, amid an intensive search involving the Royal Thai Navy.
Officials believe the pair may have been swept up to 111km away from the boat by strong currents, Sky News reports.
A Foreign Office spokesperson told the broadcaster: “We are supporting the family of a British woman and are in contact with the local authorities after an incident in Thailand.”
Ko Torinlina is part of the Surin Islands, an archipelago situated some 55 kilometres from the mainland and considered one of the world’s premier snorkelling and diving spots.
The search was still ongoing on Boxing Day, having involved the coast guard, helicopters and inflatable boats, in an operation exacerbated by stormy conditions, according to local media.
On Tuesday, Rear Admiral Pongmit Narongkul was reported as saying that an inflatable life raft had been found 20 nautical miles from where the ship sank, but it was empty.
“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,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
“Cargo and fishing vessels are helping with the search,” he added.
Officials are considering sonar capable of scouring the sea floor to search for the remains of the Reggae Queen, which are still uncertain after harsh weather conditions on Saturday, local outlet Thairath reported on Tuesday.
Ms Young appears to have been living in Thailand since 2007, according to her social media, where friends said they “wishing for a miracle of Christmas” while awaiting news of Ms Young’s whereabouts.
