Two dive-boat engine fires have occurred on successive recent days in southern Thailand, though all the passengers and crew involved were able to be rescued.
In the most recent incident, 18 tourists and Thai passengers and eight crew had to take to a life-raft in the Andaman Sea in the early hours of yesterday (12 April).
The vessel, the 35m steel DiveRACE Class E, had brought divers to Khao Lak National Park, and anchored for the night ready to visit the 1980s wreck of the tin-mining dredger Boonsung and surrounding coral reef the next day. The wreck-site lies some 24km off Thap Lamu Pier in Phangnga province, north of Phuket.
At 3.30am a large amount of smoke was discovered coming from the vessel’s engine-room. According to the operator the crew applied fire extinguishers to the generator they determined to be the source of the fire.
There was however too much smoke for them to get control of the situation, and it was decided to evacuate guests and crew onto the life-rafts and inform the navy
A nearby liveaboard vessel, Raga from Smile Dolphin Diving, came alongside and took the guests and crew onboard, reportedly all uninjured. They were transferred to Thap Lamu Pier.
“We will do our best to assist those affected and will continue to ensure accountability,” said the DiveRACE operator in a public statement. An official investigation was said to be underway.
Local heroes
The previous day (11 April), fire had broken out in the stern of a smaller commercial boat, the Aor Subpiti, as its engine burst into flames.
The boat had been returning from a reef-snorkelling trip off Koh Kood on the other side of the country, in the eastern province of Trat in the Gulf of Thailand. It was carrying a Thai family of four – two children and their parents – who had been staying at the Koh Kood Cabana Resort.
Sixteen-year-old helmsman Manawat Bialy sustained significant burns to his arms and face when the engine exploded close to where he had been working, but he was still said to gone on to help get the family safely into the water before trying to put out the fire.
He and 18-year-old captain Supawat Rojanamol eventually had to give up their attempts to contain the blaze. A passing fishing boat and emergency responders picked up the family and the crew were taken to hospital to be treated for burns.
Emergency services had been alerted at around 11.40am, and officials commented that the fire appeared to have been accidental and that the boat engine met required safety standards.
Boat operator Angkana Apibansri thanked the rescuers for their rapid response and the two crew, hailed locally as heroes for their reaction, were said to be expected to make full recoveries.
The Ko Tao incident
The two latest incidents come less than a month after 26-year-old London backpacker Alexandra Clarke went missing when the charter dive-boat David John caught fire and sank.
Clarke had been one of 22 tourists and crew on the vessel when the fire broke out in the morning of 16 March, some 10km off the coast of Ko Tao on the western side of the Gulf of Thailand.
She was thought to have been in the toilet at the stern after returning from a dive at the South-west Pinnacle site when the fire started at about 10am.
According to police the boat’s fuel tank overflowed while being refilled, with the vapour ignited by a spark when the engine was started. Fire spread quickly through the engine-room, as the divers and crew jumped into the sea. They were rescued by the crews of private boats alerted by an emergency call.
The vessel eventually sank and the captain and the crew-member who had been filling the tank have been charged with negligence. The incident was reported at the time on Divernet.
Swimming break
And these are not the only tourist-boat incidents involving engine malfunction in Thailand in the past month. An engine explosion and fire occurred on the Phuket-based twin-engined day-boat Thanamarin 555 on 31 March while passengers were swimming off Mai Thon private island.
The boat had been on its way to Ko Phi Phi carrying three crew and 33 mainly Russian tourists and their guide, and during the swimming break the captain was said to have discovered a fault in the engine.
He had ordered a replacement boat to continue the trip when the explosion occurred. He, along with an engineer and another crew-member were injured while three of the tourists and their guide were hurt by flying shrapnel. A harbour patrol boat eventually doused the fire while the injured were taken to hospital.
Phuket in particular has become associated with tourist-boat incidents, according to local press, leading authorities there to step up a programme of random inspections in 2024.
According to the Thailand Examiner the month of April, when the country celebrates its busy New Year (Songkran) water festival, regularly sees road and boat incidents increase by up to 50%.
Also on Divernet: BRITISH TOURIST MISSING, PRESUMED DEAD, AFTER THAILAND DIVE BOAT FIRE, EMPEROR SEVEN SEAS RAVAGED BY FIRE, TWO WELL-KNOWN DIVE LIVEBOARDS BLAZE, FLORES LIVEABOARD FIRE: VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE
