Phuket Marine Police Deputy Superintendent Lt Jeerayuth Onthong said he was first informed of the situation this morning around 7am. So far it is not known who the boat, named Pemika, belongs to, but Mr Jeerayuth confirmed it was carrying around 20,000 litres of fuel.
The oil spill is around 200 metres by 20 metres in size.
Puripat Teerakulpisut, Phuket Marine Office Director confirmed that the situation was “under control” and the leaking fuel would not flow to the beaches on Koh Sirae. The Marine Police had set up a boom which was controlling the fuel, and was using dispersant as well, he said.
“We haven’t seen any affected fish or birds so far, and there aren’t a lot of fish in these waters,” said Lt Puripat.
“We have had good co-operation between the Phuket Marine Office, Royal Thai Navy, Marine Police and the PTT fuel company. The PTT gave us the boom and the dispersant, and private boats have helped us. The Navy and the Marine Police are now using the dispersant to break up the fuel.”
Lt Jeerayuth said that the staff of Asian Marine, whose office is in front of the boat, noticed the boat last night as there were crew on board trying to fix the boat.
“Then they left the boat and never came back again. We are still searching for the owner of the boat, as we don’t know who is responsible for this event. We also are trying to find the cause of the sinking.”