Navy calls off search for cargo ship crew off Phuket

The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) has now called off the search for the six missing members of the crew of the Bangladesh-registered cargo ship MV Hope, four days after the crew abandoned the ship in heavy seas to the south of Racha Noi Island.

Nine of the 17 crew of the Hope crew were found alive and two bodies were recovered. It is now assumed that the remaining six are no longer alive.

Meanwhile, the stricken MV Hope itself has survived and is under tow from the tug Confidence. It will be taken to a port in Malaysia so that repairs can be made.

Thus far it is not clear which port the Hope will be towed to and, in any case, towing the ship, which is lying half on its side, is likely to be a slow job.

The Navy earlier voiced concerns that the abandoned ship might drift into the very busy sea lane going to India or the Red Sea from the Strait of Malacca; that it would leak oil that would end up on the coast of Thailand; and that the cargo aboard the ship might damage the environment.

Now that the Hope is under tow, the first concern has been alleviated, and agents for the ship’s insurers have found no leaks aboard the Hope, and no cracks in the hull, so thus far oil leaks are not a concern.

The owners of the MV Hope, Singapore-based Manship Pte Ltd, at first would not reveal what the cargo was, but have now confirmed that it consists of clay for the manufacture of ceramics. The environmental implications of this are not yet clear.

The same team that inspected the ship for damage noted that the loose cargo of clay had shifted, which had caused the ship to list heavily and prompted the skipper to give the order to abandon ship.

Monday 8 July 2013

http://www.thephuketnews.com/navy-calls-off-search-for-cargo-ship-crew-off-phuket-40713.php