PHUKET'S sea gypsies have brought up from the depths the diesel transporter that threatened to damage the island's marine environment.
It was all done with junk and rope. A dive to 43 metres . . . no problems for these sea gypsies . . . and with the help of some empty fuel drums filled with air, up bobbed the sunken Chotethaworn 6.
This afternoon, the hulk was towed into the deep sea port at Rassada on Phuket, where the sea gypsies busied themselves, raising the vessel still further out of the water.
The cargo of 25,000 litres of diesel will be pumped out soon, and the Phuket environmental scare will be over.
The Chotethaworn 6 went down in bad weather on September 4 while transporting its cargo to Racha Yai, home to the five-star Racha Resort.
The salvage operation, initially involving a flotilla of 10 vessels from Phuket, just in case there were fuel leaks, was delayed by more bad weather.
In the end it was Phuket's sea gypsies who did what most divers, even with the best of equipment, would have found a difficult task. Tomorrow they'll be back to their usual occupation as fishermen.
It was all done with junk and rope. A dive to 43 metres . . . no problems for these sea gypsies . . . and with the help of some empty fuel drums filled with air, up bobbed the sunken Chotethaworn 6.
This afternoon, the hulk was towed into the deep sea port at Rassada on Phuket, where the sea gypsies busied themselves, raising the vessel still further out of the water.
The cargo of 25,000 litres of diesel will be pumped out soon, and the Phuket environmental scare will be over.
The Chotethaworn 6 went down in bad weather on September 4 while transporting its cargo to Racha Yai, home to the five-star Racha Resort.
The salvage operation, initially involving a flotilla of 10 vessels from Phuket, just in case there were fuel leaks, was delayed by more bad weather.
In the end it was Phuket's sea gypsies who did what most divers, even with the best of equipment, would have found a difficult task. Tomorrow they'll be back to their usual occupation as fishermen.
Tomorrow I would check the recompression chambers at Vachira and Phuket Intl before stating they will be back to their usual occupation.
Posted by Vfaye on September 14, 2010 17:34