Fire guts tour boat in Phuket causing B10mn in damage

PHUKET: Investigation is underway into the fire that badly damaged a tour boat at Khlong Tha Chin Port in Ratsada earlier this morning (Dec 11). Luckily, no injuries or deaths were been reported. The damage is estimated at B10 million.

Firefighters from Phuket City Municipality and Ratsada Municipality were informed of the incident on the east coast of Phuket at around 6am this morning, the Phuket Info Center reported.

Five fire engines rushed to Khlong Tha Chin Port where a large tour boat Sea Angel Beyond was on fire. Sea vessels with water pumps also hurried to the scene as well as local boat operators who joined emergency personnel in spraying water on the fire which was soon extinguished.

It was reported that the blaze started on the bow of Sea Angel Beyond and rescue workers were worried that the fire may reach fuel tanks. This luckily did not happen.

One crewman was sleeping on board of Sea Angel Beyond at the time of the incident. He was not injured.

Phuket firefighters and their local helpers also succeeded in preventing the fire from spreading to other vessels moored in numbers at Khlong Tha Chin Port at the time of the incident. As extra precaution Sea Angel Beyond was towed to a different place for safety.

Phuket Vice Governor Amnuay Pinsuwan and Mueang Phuket District Chief Suwit Suriyawong rushed to the scene after having been informed of the fire. In the port they were joined by officers from Phuket Marine Police, Mueang Phuket Provincial Police Station, Phuket Harbor Office and other relevant agencies.

It is yet to be confirmed what caused the fire on board of the 30-million-baht vessel, which is reported to be the largest boat in the private fleet of a “major cruise company in the area”. The owner of the boat is named in the reports as Sea Angel Cruise Co., Ltd.

The preliminary investigation blames the fire on malfunction in some electric system, yet the investigation is not concluded. Officials from Phuket Harbour Office and other agencies are working at the scene.

Sea Angel Beyond is a 49.5-metre-long steel boat designed to carry 490 passengers and 29 crew members. The boat is 9 metres wide, her displacement is 611 tons gross and 203 tons net. She is powered by three diesel engines.

Sea Angel Beyond was registered in Phuket in November 2016, the licence was renewed on Nov 25, 2022.

490 passengers on a boat that size is ridiculous. Packed in like sardines. Hard to tell from the photos how many life-rafts are on board. Also should be 500+ life-jackets bare minimum. If anything were to happen when at sea fully loaded it would be a (another) maritime disaster.

oh is that the old ferry to phi phi? i though it need it a fixing soon, the owner might prefer the insurance to pay for it it seems.. ? 2 year of non use and you can clearly think they have done zero maintenance to it..well well

Hmmm. Is this suspicious at all? Bow fires are rare, especially at 6 in the morning. The tour boat business is still quite depressed. A craft must be licensed to be insured. Great news! It just got insured 2 weeks ago. One might have thought that the top boat in the fleet would have been operating at the start of high season.

Wow, photos show a vessel ready to be scrapped. Cause of fire? Electric circuit happening? ( unprofessional electric wiring works?) It's unbelieveble what sometimes one can sees taped dangling on these vessels. Lucky the vesel was not sailing with 400+ passengers on board. That would have been another Phuket boat tourist disaster. Think about that, Phuket Government.

Fire guts tour boat in Phuket causing B10mn in damage

Fire guts tour boat in Phuket causing B10mn in damage

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