Container ship sinks near major tourist hot spot

PHUKET : The Royal Thai Navy is to salvage a container ship that sank on Saturday off the coast of Phuket, a popular holiday destination in Thailand.

During the sinking, about 200 containers on board the 6,500-dwt Sealloyd Arc (built 2005) fell into the sea and bunker fuel leaked, although the exact volume is not known.

The Thai Navy’s Vice Admiral Veerudhom Muangchin told local media that his agency had received a call on Saturday afternoon about a cargo ship “experiencing water intrusion”.

The Sealloyd Arc reportedly suffered water ingress that caused it to take on a severe list.

At the time, the vessel was about 10 nautical miles (18.5 km) from the Third Naval Area Command’s pier, near Koh Kaew Noi in Phuket.

Muangchin said the Third Naval Area Command Operations Center and Maritime Security Command Region 3 Operations Center were activated to assist the stranded ship and save the 16 crew on board.

A patrol boat and high-speed motorboat were also dispatched, in coordination with the Narenthra Pearl Phuket Rescue Center. All crew were safely rescued.Local media reports indicate the Thai Navy is working with relevant agencies, such as Thailand’s state-owned oil major PTT Exploration and Production, the Phuket Port Authority and the Marine and Coastal Resources Office, to organise the salvage of the Sealloyd Arc and prepare a contingency plan in case of further oil spillage.

Maritime databases show that the Panama-flagged boxship’s registered owner is Singapore-based Sea Lloyd Shipping Lines, which bought the ship from China’s Dalian Hongjia Shipping in July.

It is the company’s only vessel, according to multiple shipping databases.

Protection and indemnity coverage is provided by the West of England club.

Sea Lloyd describes itself on its website as a non-vessel operating container carrier. There were no contact numbers listed for TradeWinds to contact.

Source : Trade Winds