A DIVING tourist boat with 26 people aboard caught fire at 4 a.m. this morning (Apr. 12) around 13 nautical miles from Thap Lamu pier at Khao Lak, Phang Nga, and all managed to escape safely, Naewna newspaper said.
Upon being alerted of the fire via its hotline 1465 the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre Region 3 sent T.271 patrol boat with a mobile pump from HTMS Phuket to help put it out with the operation still underway at press time.
The 26 people aboard, 16 tourists and 10 crewmembers, had escaped on dinghies and were rescued by local boats with all of them safely brought ashore.
This diving boat, named MV Dirace Class B, was taking tourists to the Boon Sung wreck off Khao Lak coast with this being the location where the 60-metre-long former Thai tin mining dredger sank in 1984. It has become a magnet for divers because it is covered with a variety of marine life including corals, sponges and schools of fish surrounding the wreck.
Frequently spotted species include barracudas, stingrays, parrotfish, anglerfish, nudibranchs, ghost pipefish, and much more. Regular sightings of whale sharks also occur there! Divers call it the “fish soup,” according to Wetzonedivers.com
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The diving boat ablaze off Khao Lak and tourists and crew escaping on dinghies. Photos: Naewna
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