Director of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) Phuket office, Thanet Munnoy, told The Phuket News today (July 17), “Today we have started to salvage the containers which were either floating or had sunk close to Koh Hei.
“The Phuket Marine Office has brought a barge and crane to recover the containers and they should all be recovered by tomorrow (July 18).
“There is currently quite a lot of trash from the containers floating on the surface of the sea and we are trying to clear this as much as possible.
“However, our main concern now is the vessel itself and the damage it may have caused to the coral.
“Once all of the conatiners have been recovered, officials from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources will dive to inspect the damage. We are hoping that no coral has been damaged, he said.
The cargo ship Sinaran Andaman, registered in Phnom Penh, struck rocks off Koh Hei on Wednesday began taking on water and sank . All ten crew members were rescued the same day. (See stories here and here)