No Oil Spill From Phuket Wreck, Thai Marine Official Confirms

[webfact]

ENVIRONMENT

'No oil spill' from Phuket wreck

By Sarinee Prabh

The Nation

PHUKET: -- A provincial marine official confirmed yesterday that an oil slick from a boat that sank off Phuket on Saturday appears to have dispersed and no traces remain.

"There is no more spilled oil from the boat," Bhuripat Theerakulpisut, a provincial marine official, said.

The tanker, Choke Tavorn 6, was carrying 40,000 litres when it went down about 10 nautical miles from Chalong bay after being damaged in a storm. All four crew members were rescued without injury.

Bhuripat said he went to the area in the Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation Centre division 5, with an undersea operation team, marine police, and other relevant agencies.

They found there was no more oil leaking from the boat. Marine officials had col-lected samples of water around the sunken boat to study the quality of water.

"At this time, we believe the oil leakage will not cause environmental damage in the sea as the oil slick dispersed very quickly," Bhuripa said.

Officials are now waiting for the best weather condi-tions to salvage the boat, he said, as strong winds had been blowing across the Andaman sea.

Pramuan Nuad-ngarm, owner of the Choke Tavorn 6, said about 25,000 litres of oil remained inside the boat.

Marine and Coastal Resources Research Centre director Wannakiat Tabtimsang said he had sent staff to collect samples of hydrocarbons released from the oil to study whether it would affect the environment and marine life.

Royal Thai Navy division 3's chief of staff Rear Admiral Navin Thananet said the tanker carrying 40,000 litres of oil was a modified fishery boat and legally registered with the authority.

Inside the boat, he said there were four tanks, which could carry 35,000 to 40,000 litres of oil. He said the boat was tied to a buoy to stop it from sinking to the seabed. The oil slick found on the sur-face of the water yesterday morning had leaked from the boat's machinery, not from a tank.

The Royal Thai Navy divi-sion 3 had sent a boat, Laung Rang, and another two vessels from the Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation Centre and Marine Police would collect water samples for testing.

"The team had brought instruments to get rid of the leaked oil, including spray and a buoy. This should be enough to handle the problem," he said.

-- The Nation 2010-09-06

Related topic

40,000 Litre Of Oil Threatens Phuket Coast As Thai Ship Capsizes

Follow this link:

[brahmburgers]

The team had brought instruments to get rid of the leaked oil, including spray and a buoy. This should be enough to handle the problem," he said.

uh huh.

Let's see, job description for 'a provincial marine official' investigating the oil leak near Phuket:

A. Downplay it.

B. Say whatever you have to say, in simples terms, that conveys the impression that all is ok.

C. Downplay it some more.

....and hope the issue fades from public view quickly, as all news stories do - within hours or days (at most) from breaking. Heck, even the 2 month long barricaded occupation of downtown Bkk of several weeks ago seems like a fading cloud of smoke now.

The whale's share of the the damage is underwater, so it should be of no more concern than the thousands of tons of garbage which is thrown to the seas daily from Thai shores. 'Out of sight, out of mind', as they say.

Edited September 6, 2010 by brahmburgers

[brahmburgers]

Pramuan Nuad-ngarm, owner of the Choke Tavorn 6, said about 25,000 litres of oil remained inside the boat.

Assuming he's telling the truth, as Thai authorities are known to do when in a tight spot - how the heck do they plan to get the oil transferred out of there? Sounds like a job for farang professionals ...with expertise and expense.

.....or let the oil (probably diesel fuel, but they don't want to use that term), simply dissipate. Note; a little bit of diesel can pollute a whole heck of a lot of water.

Note: I use diesel mixed with vege oil as a sealer for wood fence posts because if I used vege oil alone, the insects and mold would have a party (eating the wood). By adding diesel to the mix, it toxifies the wood and no animal or mold will want to munch on it. I don't use that mix anywhere near any water well watersheds.

[moskito]

The team had brought instruments to get rid of the leaked oil, including spray and a buoy. This should be enough to handle the problem," he said.

I belive in the power of dishwashing liquid :jap:

[moskito]

AND btw, are we really talking about OIL here, OR is it just a translation problem and they talked about GASOLINE ???

Maybe the moderator can lighten us up?

[mmh8]

Pramuan Nuad-ngarm, owner of the Choke Tavorn 6, said about 25,000 litres of oil remained inside the boat.

Assuming he's telling the truth, as Thai authorities are known to do when in a tight spot - how the heck do they plan to get the oil transferred out of there? Sounds like a job for farang professionals ...with expertise and expense.

.....or let the oil (probably diesel fuel, but they don't want to use that term), simply dissipate. Note; a little bit of diesel can pollute a whole heck of a lot of water.

Note: I use diesel mixed with vege oil as a sealer for wood fence posts because if I used vege oil alone, the insects and mold would have a party (eating the wood). By adding diesel to the mix, it toxifies the wood and no animal or mold will want to munch on it. I don't use that mix anywhere near any water well watersheds.

What makes you think people require farang professionals,

I have met and know incredibly educated and experienced Thai. It looks like the problem is way above your level of understanding - applying preservative to wooden fence posts- I think this certainly gives you the expertise to critisise Thai people in general, lol, why do you think they need to bring in Farang?

[moskito]

I have met and know incredibly educated and experienced Thai.

congratulations, I guess not on a bar, right? So welcome to the upper 10000 class, sure they gave u a warm welcome, btw, good one

why do you think they need to bring in Farang?

So WHY are u here then?

[webfact]

Thai Navy Declare Phuket Oil Slick Contained

A Thai Naval Coast Guard unit dispatched to the scene of the Choke Thaworn 6 oil slick has declared the spill as contained on Sunday. The Choke Thaworn 6 sank approximately 10 nautical miles off the coast of Phuket on Saturday, leaking an unstipulated amount of engine oil into the surrounding ocean.

Phuket, the 5th of September 2010: Since Saturday mornings sinking, occurring when the vessel inadvertently capsized in a severe thunderstorm, officials from the Marine Police and Department of Marine and Coastal Resources have worked tirelessly with rescue crews to disperse the slick.

Although the vessel is thought to contain approximately 35,000-40,000 litres of heavy fuel oil, salvage expects profess the size of the spill as being equivalent to the unused fuel left in the ships engines. It is thought that the stored oil barrels have not been breached in the incident.

Full story HERE

PATTAYA DAILY NEWS

-- 2010-09-06

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[steelepulse]

>>Thai Navy Declare Phuket Oil Slick Contained

If the navy declares it, it must be true then. Case closed...............Next.

[rangers]

"He said the boat was tied to a buoy to stop it from sinking"

Is he for real! Must be some buoy!

[asiawatcher]

If it's contained - it is not due to anything the Thai Authorities have done, more like the construction of the tanks and their ability to remain sealed! Good to see the Navy on the case to raise the vessel anyway - good practice for the lads!

[Robby nz]

Have any of you poster on this topic really got any idea of what you are talking about?

Has any of you ever seen , been involved with an oil spill?

Do you have any idea of what sort of boat (not ship) they are talking about?

What we have is a wooden ex fishing boat containing somewhere between 25,000 lts and 40,000 lts of boyant liquid.

The owner says 25K lts, he should know he was contracted to deliver the stuff.

The tanks have a capacity of 40K lts so the remainder will be filled with air, also boyant.

There is a strong posibility it is not even on the bottom of the sea, hence the bouy attached.

Even if it is on the bottom it wont be too difficult to refloat and then get back to shore.

As said the oil slick seen will be a combination of the engine oil that leaked from the motor and the boats fuel.

That will have dissapated very quickly

The fuel to be delivered would have to be contained in tanks or it would slop out all over the show on the delivery voyage.

And as for the "ship sinks" and "oil spill" headlines:

Newspaper publishing is a buisness and business have to make a profit so they publish headlines that will sell papers.

When people see "OIL SPILL" they tend to think of things like the Exon Valdaz or the more recent BP thing.

What we have here is not a disaster as the above and will not contaminate or kill anything.

[mmh8]

I have met and know incredibly educated and experienced Thai.

congratulations, I guess not on a bar, right? So welcome to the upper 10000 class, sure they gave u a warm welcome, btw, good one

why do you think they need to bring in Farang?

So WHY are u here then?

err, I ask myself the same question frequently, however this is not the place for philosophy and it is off topic anyhow,

Just don't know why you don't credit locals with intelligence

[brahmburgers]

What we have here is not a disaster as the above and will not contaminate or kill anything.

As someone said earlier: how would you like just one liter of diesel poured in to your swimming pool(?) ....moments before your little kid's birthday party, with all the little friends showing up to take a swim?

Between 25,000 and 40,000 liters (the one article claims both amounts), is not insignificant, unless the toxicity of ocean (and seashore) flora & fauna are deemed insignificant.

A quarter century ago I went to visit Ko Chang (an island in Thailand's eastern Trad province, bordering Cambodia) What I didn't see gave me pause: I may have seen a few birds, I saw zero turtles, zero monitor lizards, zero wild mammals. 25 years later, it's probably more of an ecological wasteland, as tourism is getting entrenched there with a vengence. Actually, I've only seen one monitor lizard in the wild in Thailand, - it was raiding a garbage dump on a tiny island at the NW corner of Koh Pa Gnan. The big question here is; what degree of dearth of nature will Thais tolerate? If they're like the Chinese, they'll tolerate unmitigated development - cement covering the ground, and rooftops nearly touching as far as the eye can see in every direction.

Back on topic: If / when they try to raise the boat/ship, let's hope they do a decent job of it, and the fuel tank doesn't rupture (if it hasn't already). To expect honesty from the authorities on this issue is a big stretch. Baht/dollars are what's important to those folks, not the environment, and not being honest (tot he press corps or anyone else). Oil spills can lead to big money problems, so the more they downplay the impact, the less likely the principles will lose money.

[asiawatcher]

Have any of you poster on this topic really got any idea of what you are talking about?

Has any of you ever seen , been involved with an oil spill?

Do you have any idea of what sort of boat (not ship) they are talking about?

What we have is a wooden ex fishing boat containing somewhere between 25,000 lts and 40,000 lts of boyant liquid.

The owner says 25K lts, he should know he was contracted to deliver the stuff.

The tanks have a capacity of 40K lts so the remainder will be filled with air, also boyant.

There is a strong posibility it is not even on the bottom of the sea, hence the bouy attached.

Even if it is on the bottom it wont be too difficult to refloat and then get back to shore.

As said the oil slick seen will be a combination of the engine oil that leaked from the motor and the boats fuel.

That will have dissapated very quickly

The fuel to be delivered would have to be contained in tanks or it would slop out all over the show on the delivery voyage.

And as for the "ship sinks" and "oil spill" headlines:

Newspaper publishing is a buisness and business have to make a profit so they publish headlines that will sell papers.

When people see "OIL SPILL" they tend to think of things like the Exon Valdaz or the more recent BP thing.

What we have here is not a disaster as the above and will not contaminate or kill anything.

Nice to see someone lead with their chin...

[mmh8]

What we have here is not a disaster as the above and will not contaminate or kill anything.

As someone said earlier: how would you like just one liter of diesel poured in to your swimming pool(?) ....moments before your little kid's birthday party, with all the little friends showing up to take a swim?

Between 25,000 and 40,000 liters (the one article claims both amounts), is not insignificant, unless the toxicity of ocean (and seashore) flora & fauna are deemed insignificant.

A quarter century ago I went to visit Ko Chang (an island in Thailand's eastern Trad province, bordering Cambodia) What I didn't see gave me pause: I may have seen a few birds, I saw zero turtles, zero monitor lizards, zero wild mammals. 25 years later, it's probably more of an ecological wasteland, as tourism is getting entrenched there with a vengence. Actually, I've only seen one monitor lizard in the wild in Thailand, - it was raiding a garbage dump on a tiny island at the NW corner of Koh Pa Gnan. The big question here is; what degree of dearth of nature will Thais tolerate? If they're like the Chinese, they'll tolerate unmitigated development - cement covering the ground, and rooftops nearly touching as far as the eye can see in every direction.

Back on topic: If / when they try to raise the boat/ship, let's hope they do a decent job of it, and the fuel tank doesn't rupture (if it hasn't already). To expect honesty from the authorities on this issue is a big stretch. Baht/dollars are what's important to those folks, not the environment, and not being honest (tot he press corps or anyone else). Oil spills can lead to big money problems, so the more they downplay the impact, the less likely the principles will lose money.

Any clues on places which don't care about baht/dollars/ money more than the environment? uk?us?russia? france? spain? any south american country?

I look forward to finding a country where 'folks' do care more about environment