WEDNESDAY – JUNE 27, 2018
As floodwaters surged into Chamber 3, the Thai Navy SEALs evacuated, fearing the entire cave would soon be underwater. Lieutenant Kai’s team was ordered to block all entry, while a small group led by Lieutenant Boom stayed behind to monitor the rising waters. At 8 PM, British divers Robert Harper, Rick Stanton, and John Volanthen arrived at the rescue site and met Unsworth. Harper, an experienced cave diver familiar with the site, had seemingly briefed Stanton and Volanthen during their flight.
(Rick Stanton, John Volanthen, Robert Harper, Vern Unsworth)
At the cave entrance, they faced immediate resistance from Lieutenant Kai, who warned them of the extreme danger inside. Despite the language barrier, Unsworth served as the liaison for the British divers and grew increasingly insistent. As Lieutenant Kai denied them entry, the confrontation escalated, with Unsworth becoming more aggressive. Lieutenant Commander Piyaphan later recalled that Unsworth was trying to pick a fight. Volanthen joined the fray, while only Stanton and Harper maintained their composure, recognizing the futility of arguing with a soldier under orders.
“This SEAL had been given an order not to let anyone through, and his job was to follow orders.” – Rick Stanton
Unsworth sought higher authority, escalating the dispute to Admiral Apakorn Yuukongkaew, commander of Thailand’s Navy SEALs. Eventually, approval was granted for the British divers to enter the cave.
Shortly before midnight, Unsworth, Harper, Stanton, and Volanthen entered the cave, where they encountered Lieutenant Boom and his team evacuating due to rising water that now passed Chamber 3. Ignoring his warnings, the British team pressed on.
About 700 meters into the cave, the group reached a V-shaped passage just 50 meters from Chamber 3. As Harper led them through the narrow, meter-wide opening, the Thai Navy SEALs’ warnings proved true: water surged, flooding the passage and leaving Harper with only a small pocket of air to breathe. Panic set in among the Brits.
Harper, a 65-year-old man who was overweight and not in peak physical condition, faced a life-or-death decision: continue forward to Chamber 3 and force a rescue or attempt a risky freedive back through the flooded passage. In a moment of sheer determination, Harper chose to risk his life and freedive back, narrowly escaping disaster. Just 30 minutes after entering, the British team was forced to follow the Thai Navy SEALs back to the surface, tarnishing their reputation and eroding the SEALs’ respect for them.
After the near-catastrophe, Ruengrit Changkwanyuen, or Pae, a Thai tech diver advising the SEALs, recommended bringing in Ben Reymenants, a Belgian cave diving expert from Phuket.