The Royal Thai Navy has deployed vessels, equipped with skimmers, oil booms and dispersant, to prevent a 4km long oil slick from moving toward the eastern coast of the Gulf.
The bunker oil slick, estimated at about 20,000 litres, leaked from a sunken oil tanker, Golden Bridge 2, and was reported to be about 15km from Si Chang Island off Chon Buri province moving west, according to the Geo-informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA).
Golden Bridge 2 contained about 104,000 litres of bunker oil when it capsized and sank in high seas in the Gulf on December 3rd.
GISTDA said it has been closely monitoring the movement of the slick using its Sentinel 2A satellite and has been analysing the situation via the coastal radar system.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environment has expressed serious concern that the oil may threaten marine life and corals around Si Chang Island and mangrove forests along the coasts of Phetchaburi province and Bangkok.
