The Cape Breton, a cargo vessel loaded with over 24 thousand tons of rice, ran aground in Pattaya Bay last week. Despite running the engines at full throttle, the ship could not free itself from the reef.

Burtoi Augustin, the 48-year old captain from Rumania, said that after loading the ship with 24,341 tons of rice in Koh Si Chang, they left port heading for South America. Instead of taking the normal path on the outside of Larn Island, the captain attempted to take the ship on an inside route between Pattaya and Larn Island. Not knowing the waters, the captain soon found the slightly submerged reef in the middle of Pattaya Bay, about 2 nautical miles from shore, the loud crack and sudden stop being his first clue that it was there.

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