A ship transporting 40,000 litres of diesel oil yesterday sank some 10 nautical miles off Phuket's Chalong Bay amid heavy rain and four-metre-high waves but crew members were saved by another ship sailing beside it. The scene remained inaccessible at press time due to the rough seas and weather.
There were concerns that the spilled oil might damage nearby coral reefs, used by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources as an incubation ground for giant clams, and affect other marine life.
Despite confirmation by the ship owner that the oil tank valves were securely sealed, the director of the Marine, Coastal, and Mangrove Forest Resources Research and Development Institute, Wannakiat Taptimsaeng, got a team ready to collect water samples and assess oil leakage as soon as it is calm.