|
 On
the 4th of May 1997 the 85-meter passenger ferry 'King Cruiser' on a routine
run to the Phi-Phi Islands made history by straying several miles off
course and hitting the Anemone Reef. With a huge hole ripped in her hull
the ship went down in less than an hour. The absolutely ideal weather
conditions at the time of the accident no doubt greatly aided the rescue
efforts and fortunately the several hundred passengers (mostly tourists)
and crew on board at the time all managed to escape to safety.
Most of the passengers on board that day may have preferred
not to participate in this little drama, but surviving a ship-wreck would
certainly be an unforgetable experience and make for an unusual and exciting
travel story to tell the folks about back home. Any passenger or crewman
who may have wanted to congratulate the captain of the vessel for his
creative navigational skills, or to thank him for stopping the boat so
everyone could enjoy a swim would have been sadly disappointed as he had
already fled the scene.
If the Phuket dive scene had been previously lacking
in anything it was a decent ship-wreck for divers to explore. This unplanned
addition to Anemone Reef has become one of the most popular dive-sites
around Phuket. Not only is the wreck located near an already popular dive-site
but it is positioned almost perfectly at a depth between 12 and 30 meters.
With it's multiple decks and spacious open areas the King Cruiser wreck
is providing sheltered living quarters for large numbers of fish and crabs.
Over time it will become an even better dive-site as it takes on a patina
of age, and becomes encrusted with a variety of colorful corals.
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