Surfline Premium and
Registered Members
LOG IN HERE
My Account
Get Premium
Help
Sitemap
PADANG SHIPWRECK BURNS: UPDATE
Dry-docked Taiwanese fishing boat set on fire
SURF NEWS
VIEWS:63589  COMMENTS:64
Email this Story | View Comments
By: Aquaman
August 6, 2008
Last night, officers from Bali's Marine Police Unit made their next move to help clean up the mess surrounding the Taiwanese Fishing Vessel that was sun aground on the Padang Padang reef several weeks ago.
Under the cloak of darkness, several hundred liters of Kerosene were poured into the hull of the boat and it was ignited with a ceremonious moltov cocktail thrown from the cliff. An enormous fire engulfed the Ho Tsai Fa and raged through the night spewing huge clouds of thick black smoke and brilliant flames that lit up the entire Padang Padang area.

By morning's light the upper half of the boat was gone and a smouldering clump of metal, molten goo, and ash covered the still intact lower hull of the boat. By all accounts.. the Padang Boat now looks a lot less "cool" than it did last week..
The Marine Police, whose first move towards addressing the Boat issue was an attempt at pulling the 115-foot 200-ton fishing boat off of the reef on a low tide with several local fishing boats, were still on the scene this morning.

According to their spokesman, "The objective of burning the boat was to reduce it's size. The next step will be to cut up the remaining wreck and have it removed piece by piece to a place where it will not distrub the tourist beaches in the Bukit areas."

We'll keep you posted on the progress of this clean up effort as it unfolds.


Check the ROLE Foundation website for more info as well.
Comments: (64)   
Surfline Ed 08/06/2008 02:05 PM
Hey guys -- thanks for all your thoughtful comments.
JonFrase 08/06/2008 01:51 PM
I think this just made it worse by burning the ship. Should have just left it or did more research to get it off the reef properly. By burning it, its caused pieces of the ship to get in the water and kill more living things in the water/reef. Way to go whoever did this, I'm sure it wasn't a surfer and if so is a total kook!
PtLMaSrFr 08/06/2008 01:20 PM
Go surf already. Do what you can locally, make a difference and improve your life as best as you can. The end, waves be with you!
JamesDCsurfer 08/06/2008 12:53 PM
This is not cool!. I dont think they should have burned the ship. I agree with Bill; i seriously do not belive any surfer would do something like that.
pauly 08/06/2008 12:53 PM
The marine police burnt the thing. Blame them. But then, you travel there, surf, spend money and encourage them to do exactly this kind of thing. You don't like it, do go and spend your money there.
Inland surfer 08/06/2008 12:25 PM
Einstein's all meffed up; if you watch C-Span in between surf contests, you would see both 'parties' about to drill on all coasts and use 'clean' coal (no such thing- it's still sulfur, lead, and CO2!); capitalism and the free market dictate no personal resposibility and neither do you.
brett favre 08/06/2008 12:09 PM
why not just drag it back across the reef? that shouldn't do any more damage than what has already been done!
don't look at me 08/06/2008 12:08 PM
First, those who are quick to condemn, get off your high horse. Any type of RESPONSIBLE environmental conservation effort is valued, regardless of how specific the cause. Cleaning a polluted beach that happens to be a popular/revered surf break has merit regardless of how self serving it may be. Just imagine if everyone had a micro focused environmental cause...we'd have a much cleaner world to live in, selfish or not.
joe 08/06/2008 11:48 AM
Gents - regarding the lead, you're unfortunately misinformed. the best way to maximize lead's environmental destruction is to disturb it via burning. If the boat just sunk, it will, over time, degrade but lead's heavy molecular composition will confine it pretty much only to the ocean floor. By burning it, you initially make it airborne, then it will settle and cover the ocean like a blanket (again, because it's heavy). this is pretty much the worst thing you can do. Congrats
Big Scorpion 08/06/2008 11:30 AM
One observation All I ever see on any surf related forum is a bunch of back and forth banter about nothing. This is no different. Everyone is a know it all and everyone is right. Instead of arguing and attacking everyone else's posts we need to look at the situation for what it is. It is a problem, people are trying to fix it, and all you Wilburs seem to just see this sort of thing as a good way to blow off some steam in your cubicle while you are eating your granola bar. Wake up
phoo114 08/06/2008 10:54 AM
"The objective of burning the boat was to reduce it's size." Are you kidding!!!??? They torched the boat while it's sitting half in the water on the reef and they think that is a step in the right direction. Typical solution to a problem in Indonesia...u need to get rid of the trash...just burn it...you need to reduce the size of a friggin commercial fishing boat...just burn it. Unbelievable!
The fish 08/06/2008 10:49 AM
It's sad to know that there are so many of us ignorant humans out here. Judgmental and opinionated creatures. It's a shame that we are so desperate for life that we destroy the being that gives it to us! Allah, god Buddah - whatever We need to stop excusing these happenings and take some responsible action people. Step up or get burned one day!!
walt 08/06/2008 09:04 AM
most surfer's are kooks--- nothing but commercial colonialists, spreading the seed of rabid consumerism and fad culture everywhere they go. making a big deal about a fishing boat on a reef with so many other real problems on the same island is typical of the myopic, arrogant, egotistical, terretorial surfer. as someone who has seen my local area invaded by surfers, i can tell you fist hand that things are worse for it, not better. stop searching. stop advertising. the hypocrisy is nauseating.
surf4food 08/06/2008 09:03 AM
Predictable to hear all of the typical, whining, and sweeping generalizations, about how terrible the "EVIL" Westerners, or Surfers who did this awful thing to the peaceful INDO people....oooops?.....It was the INDO GOVT....being the typical.....INDO GOVT.!!! They probably hired the guys from the past few Indo Bombings, or maybe the Fisherman who Dynamite the reef, so they can scoop up fish.....or maybe just the corrupt INDO Govt. doing the usual, mindless activities they are known for...?WAKEUP
Eric 08/06/2008 08:51 AM
According to their spokesman, "The objective of burning the boat was to reduce it's size. The next step will be to cut up the remaining wreck and have it removed piece by piece to a place where it will not distrub the tourist beaches in the Bukit areas." So, did the Marine Police burn it? Why is the blame on the surfers? Who burned it? Are here any prooves on who did it?
View All Comments (64 comments)
Comments are closed on this story.
SURFLINE HOME PAGE
MORE SURFNEWS