I’m not sure about your question, but the below code is more correct.
$attr = array(
'title' => get_the_title(),
'alt' => 'a nice view of the ocean',
);
echo sprintf( '<a href="https://wordpress.stackexchange.com/questions/281220/%s">%s</a>', get_the_permalink(), get_the_post_thumbnail( null, 'post-thumbnail', $attr ) );