Speedboat on fire in Bang Rak

Around 8am this morning there was speedboat on fire in Bang Rak from the Grand Sea company. It's unclear to me at this point how the boat exactly got on fire, but it resulted in a big fireball.
It seems to be a speedboat that is being used for snorkel trips to Koh Tao or the Ang Thong National Marine Park.

A thik black smoke column is coming from the speedboat

Alarmed trough Facebook message and a message from a friend, I got to the scene about half an hour later, just to find the boat still on fire but with a big black smoke plume on top of it.

A close up from the speedboat engines and stern 

All the foam, plastic and everything inside the boat was burning up, creating this massive black plume over Bang Rak bay.

An overview

At some stage another speedboat approached the boat on fire and managed to tow it away from the beach area, slightly further away into the bay. 

The speedboat on fire being towed away

This was in my opinion a very courageous act, if we want to give a positive slant on it, since the gas tanks had not exploded yet and could potentially explode any moment, especially considering that the towboat was doing this with the engines in reverse, so nowhere to escape and in very near proximity from the fire and potential explosion. 

An overview after the boat on fire was towed further into the bay

It's not a daily occurrence and I can only hope that nobody as caught out on the boat when it caught fire. More details will hopefully follow soon.

Stay safe out there!

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