UPDATE: Speedboat collides with oil tanker off Phuket

A number of Chinese tourists have been injured, one seriously, after the speed boat they were on hit a small oil tanker off the east coast of Phuket yesterday afternoon (Saturday).

The speed boat, Sai Nam, was carrying 10 Chinese passengers, including two children, was heading back to Phuket after a day at Koh Phi Phi.

The tour was between Koh Rung and Koh Ma Phrao when it collided with a small oil tanker, the Choke kriangkrai. The collision damaged the speedboat but it didn’t sink. The steel tanker sustained only minor damage.

The tourists on the speed boat were rescued and transferred to a nearby tour boat. Those injured were rushed to the Mission Hospital in Phuket Town.

Marine police are still investigating the cause of the collision.

On Friday, a speed boat carrying 23 Chinese tourists hit submerged reefs and sank as it was cruising around Koh Samet Island off Rayong. All the tourists were recovered by another speed boat with two of the passengers suffering minor injuries.

The list of marine incidents follows promises from the Marine police to ramp up the safety of vessels carrying tourists following last year’s Phoenix disaster when 47 Chinese tourists perished off the south west coast of Phuket.

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