PHUKET: The owner of an inter-island ferry has agreed to compensate the owner of a pickup truck that slid off the boat and into the sea.
The unsecured vehicle rolled off the ferry, the Koh Yao Centre, and into the Andaman Sea after the boat left the island in Phangnga for Phuket on Wednesday. It sank and remains on the seabed.
Wiwat Chidcherdwong, the Phuket Marine Office chief, said on Thursday the ferry owner, he did not name, had agreed to pay damages to the pickup's owner, who also was not named.
Mr Wiwat said the pickup truck owner did not apply the hand brake after parking it on the ferry at Koh Yao. The boat crew also did not secure it to the deck with ropes, he added.
Pol Col Prasert Srikhunrat, the Marine Police Division 8 chief, said on Wednesday after receiving the incident report that the rough seas could have tipped the vehicle from the deck.
The pickup is still on the seabed, with a buoy attached to it warning all boats to keep clear.