V/Adm Choengchai, who is also director of the 3rd Area Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre (Thai-MECC), said on Sunday that a Phuket-based Thai-MECC office was told by a local fishermen’s group on Friday (Apr 30) that an unidentified object had been found underwater west of Koh Ael island, reprts the Bangkok Post.
Naval officers from an explosive ordnance disposal unit of the Third Naval Area went to the spot to investigate yesterday. They found it was a round aluminium-like hollow object about 45 centimetres in diameter. It was 6 metres below the surface, about 20 metres west of Koh Ael.
It was determined that the object was not an explosive device. Further investigation was underway, V/Adm Choengchai said.