Beached cargo ship has containers removed a week after running aground in Thailand

Beached cargo ship has containers removed a week after running aground in Thailand

A beached cargo ship had its containers removed a week after running aground during a storm in Thailand.

Marine rescuers used a crane to lift the containers from the vessel named Namthong 39 that was still stuck on the shallow part of a beach Koh Phra Thong island off the Andaman sea this week.

The containers were full of rubberwood that were supposed to be delivered from Myanmar to Indonesia when the ship met with strong winds and was pushed to the sand.

Now the rescue operation is still ongoing since it started on June 6 with all of the containers expected to be removed by Friday (June 23).

It’s unclear when the ship will be removed.

Provincial Marine Officer Acting Sub Lieutenant Kittiphoom Samaiklang said: ‘We used a crane to lift the containers with the help of volunteers from the Mangrove Forest Conservation centre and other marine units.’ Aside from Namthong 39, a tugboat named YKP Marine was also beached upon attempting to rescue the other vessel.

Both ships did not have damage and there was no sign of oil spillage as well as the valves were already closed before water was pumped out of them.

Marine Department officer Lieutenant Kittipoom Samaiklang said: ‘The operation is now underway.

We are now waiting for another tugboat.

It should be done when the water level rises as it would be easier.

‘Feed pumps were also used to remove water from the two ships so we have to make sure that the weather condition is better.’ Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia such as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are at the start of their tropical monsoon rainy season, which lasts until October.

Soaring temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius are often followed by powerful tropical storms with thunder, lightning, rain and flash floods.