Body spotted off Phuket believed to be missing Romanian diver

Nearly two months after the search for the Romanian diver who went missing at sea off Phuket ended, officials believe that his body has been found.

A body was spotted floating off Phuket’s Koh Kaew island yesterday, The Phuket News reported. At 12.30pm, an unnamed boat captain told Chalong Police that he found a legless body in the water some 11 nautical miles off Koh Kaew.

The body was taken to Chalong Pier, and police contacted Somesan’s wife. Somesan’s wife confirmed that the body could be his and that it had a similar wetsuit as the one he had.

The body was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital for an autopsy. Police are now waiting for Somesan’s son to pass a DNA test to confirm that the body is his father.

When he went missing, Somesan had been on a diving trip with two friends. These included 47 year old Romanian national Alexandru Florin Miron and an unnamed Thai woman.

The three left Nai Harn Beach on “Shawnika” the speedboat, owned by Somesan, and headed toward Koh Kaew.

As the trio attempted to anchor the boat to go diving, they encountered a problem and the anchor got stuck, said Miron. Somesan dived under the boat to assess the problem but did not resurface again, he said.

Rescuers first searched around Koh Kaeo Noi. But when they didn’t find Somesan there, the team expanded to Phuket’s southwest coast, and then to areas immediately south of Nai Harn.

The rescue team included officers from Rawai Municipality, Marine Police, Tourist Police, Chalong Police, and Tourist Assistance Center. It also included Kusoldharm Foundation rescuers, disaster officials and personnel from the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command. Local foreign divers also joined the search.

On January 17, Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos announced that the search was wrapping up. This was after rescuers worked intensely for nine days to find Somesan, searching the sea with navy boats and helicopters.