On the 4th of May 1997,The King Cruiser, a car ferry operating from Phuket to the Phi Phi Islands in southern Thailand, hit a submerged collection of rocky pinnacles, splitting the designated marine sanctuary and popular dive site in two.
One hour later and remaining in one piece, it was under thirty metres of water and on the seabed. All passengers were rescued when the ferry boat sank about ten miles off Phi Phi Island. All the passengers - Thai and foreign tourists - were safely taken to two police patrol boats and fishing boats, which raced to the rescue in response to an emergency call. The collapsed foredeck is at 16 metres; there’s a stack of plastic picnic tables and chairs being enjoyed by a vertical cloud of snappers using the unlikely structure to shelter from any ensuing currents. Above this, an air filled inverted bucket has jamned between a criss cross of horizontal beams. The upper deck is split from front to back and this has obviously caused it to collapse;
Two funnels act as boundaries for parrotfish and wrasse as they flit and peck around. It is obviously a sad occasion for all concerned when an accident such as this occurs, thankfully no lives were lost. As for Anemone reef, well, half remains where it always has been, the remainder is on the mend, not as the once rocky haven of marine life but as a steel one!. Now the marine sanctuary has three locations and not just two. |
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