Authorities met again Sunday morning as a helicopter checked the area around a potential eco disaster. On the bottom of the ocean off Phuket lie 40,000 litres of fuel that could trigger a minor catastrophe unless a sunken boat can be raised intact, or the fuel can be pumped up. Royal Thai Navy officers, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, the Department of Marine Coastal Resources and Marine Police met last night and again Sunday to try to work out how to avoid an environmental disaster off Phuket. Photographs taken from the helicopter showed grey seas with no detectable sign of fuel on the surface.


A PHUKET storm sank a boat containing 40,000 litres of fuel today, sparking concern that environmental damage could follow.

It is believed the boat put to sea despite a storm weather warning of waves up to four metres.

Marine Police rescued four crew from the Chotethaworn 6 about 11am, but the boat and its cargo went to the bottom about 10 nautical miles off the Phuket east coast pier at Chalong.

The boat was believed to have been carrying the fuel to Racha Yai island, home to the five-star Racha Resort, south of Phuket.

A Marine Police officer said Marine Police had advised all ships' captains not to put to sea today because heavy storms and high waves were forecast. But the boat sailed anyway, the officer said, because Racha island depends on fuel for its generators.

Some fuel from the vessel rose to the surface after the sinking, but Marine Police believe the fuel is from the vessel's engine and the fuel for the island is still sealed in the boat.

The issue now is whether the fuel can be retrieved from a depth of 30 metres before a rupture sets it loose, or time triggers holes and leaks in the container. Marine Police were planning to keep a constant watch on the surface above the sunken boat.

It is not known at this stage how much remaining fuel there is on Racha Yai to power its generators. The cost of the load of fuel is estimated at four to five million baht.

Phuket's natural reefs are already under pressure because of coral bleaching, the worst people can recall in a generation, and an excessive number of divers.

But officials from the Department of Marine Coastal Resources in Phuket are delighted with an artificial reef that was sunk off Racha Yai last year in a joint operation with the Phuket Provincial Office and Racha Yai tourism officials.

The artificial reef, known as Star Ruby Point, attracts divers and fish to two sunken vessels - The Harruby, a steel-hulled vessel once used as a dive boat, and a wooden fishing boat.

See the spectacular Phuketwan photo album above.