Mystery solved: Undersea container holds ladder, big fish
After months of mystery and wild speculation, one of eight shipping containers discovered submerged off the Sattahip coast was found to contain nothing more exciting than a ladder and a big fish.
A diver takes samples from around the opening of the container.
In the first step of an 8 million baht project to determine what secrets the mystery containers held, divers from the Royal Thai Navy’s Removal and Demolition Section inspected and cut open the box, then used a camera to inspect its contents. The result proved to be anticlimactic.
The container, one of eight known about by local fishermen since the early 90s, became front-page news last month when divers near Juang Island, 30 nautical miles off Sattahip, found a number of human skulls around the containers. That fueled widespread speculation the cargo boxes contained everything from bodies felled in the deadly 1992 Black May uprising in Bangkok to toxic waste to illegal cargo dumped overboard by shipping companies.
Divers inspect the outside of the sunken container.
As it turned out, divers found no chemicals or radioactivity outside the container and then, after cutting a 50 cm hole in the side, peered in to find a metal ladder hanging on one wall with a humpback grouper standing guard. With the spotted fish posing no danger, media divers were allowed to visit the container to see for themselves.
The costly plan to find and drill open the containers had been protested by local fishermen afraid the Navy operation could release toxic chemicals into local waters, destroying their livelihood and damaging tourism. Samaesan village officials had been shut out of a June 6 planning meeting where officials mapped out an inspection strategy and promised to sue the company behind the dumping of the containers should they be found to contain toxins.
Despite the cost, officials said the other containers will still be inspected. However, strong currents and storms are delaying further operations. Navy officials urged curious residents to be patient.
Pattaya Mail - Vol. XVII No. 25 - Friday June 19 - June 25, 2009 News
Got to ask the question if the human skulls did not come from the containers, where did they come from?