Five foreign tourists were safely rescued from a tour boat that began leaking during a return trip from a diving excursion off Phuket.
Personnel from the Khaimuk Tourist Assistance Centre were sent to help the passengers stranded following a mechanical failure on the tour boat Poseidon at about 4.50pm on Wednesday.
A dive tour operator had alerted the centre that the boat’s exhaust pipe had malfunctioned, resulting in water leakage while en route between Koh Yao and Koh Khieo.
A rescue team was immediately sent to the scene and evacuated all five foreign tourists. All were safely transported back to Chalong Pier without injury.
Crew members from the Mermaid, which was also in the area, managed to stop the leak. The Poseidon was then towed back to shore by the Andaman Pearl 3 and Mermaid boats.
