Thailand watching weather with plan to salvage tourist boat
PHUKET, Thailand — Thai officials said on Tuesday that they plan to salvage the sunken tourist boat
before Sunday, if weather conditions are good, while the investigation into the tragedy which happened on July 5 is under way.
Phuket Marine Office Chief Wiwat Chitcherdwong said at a news conference held in the provincial government of Phuket the company that owns the boat has refused to salvage it so the task falls to the marine department.
“All necessary equipment is installed underwater now and we are preparing to salvage the boat before August 12,” Wiwat said, adding that the boat will be taken to a pier to be checked by authorities.
Two tourist boats, and carrying a total of 122 Chinese tourists, were overturned in rough seas on July 5. All 35 Chinese passengers on board
were rescued while 47 out of 87 Chinese passengers on board were killed.
has already been salvaged, according to Phuket Police Commander Teerapol Thipjaroen, while the police are waiting for Phoenix to be brought to the surface.
The provincial police commander said told press that after was salvaged, experts were sent to check it and they found defects they attributed to poor maintenance.
Teerapol said they charged the captain and manager of the company that owns the boat and prosecutors will file charges against the two in a local court on Tuesday.
As regards Teerapol said on July 5, some boats chose to return to port, while others waited for the storm to pass. The fact that overturned and the others did not suggested a problem with the vessel or human error, police said.
“So, the Phoenix overturn
So, the Phoenix overturn has something to do with boat’s condition, and the captain, etc, we will investigate all aspects.”
Teerapol Thipjaroen,
Phuket Police Commander
has something to do with boat’s condition, and the captain, etc, we will investigate all aspects,” he said.
Phuket governor Norapat Plodthong and Chief of the Phuket Provincial Office of Tourism and Sports, Sirawee Waloh said that families of 33 victims have received compensation of 1.1 million baht ($33,102) per victim from two insurance companies while families of 30 victims have been given 1 million baht per victim from Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
They both said they are working to pay families of all victims as soon as they submit required documents.
Norapat also mentioned that Phuket province along with other areas have worked hard to step up security measures such as installing CCTV in main ports, arranging checks on every boat before they depart, and establishing 24-hour Marine Monitoring and Rescue Center in Chalong Bay Pier.
Sirawee Waloh said everyone in Phuket felt so sorry about the tragedy and now they are working hard to make traveling safer to win back Chinese tourists.