Families endure holiday horror after boat sinks

Melbourne families had a lucky escape after their tourist speed boat sank in less than ten minutes during a cruise to Phi Phi Island in Phuket.

Seven children aged from two years and 18 adults were on board the small boat when it began to sink at about 9.30am on Thursday, the Herald Sun reports.

Passengers, including several who were unable to swim, were forced to jump into the water and wait to be rescued.

Philip Barnes, whose wife, Susan and daughters Alyssa, 9, and Megan 7, were on board said the boat and crew were ill-equipped for an emergency.

"There were no flares and no radio on board. So if we weren't able to wave another boat down there would have been no way of telling anyone we were in trouble,"Mr Barnes told the newspaper.

The families were about 45 minutes into their trip, when one of the boat's engines died.

"We started drifting around on one engine...then saw there was water coming into the back of the boat," he told the Herald Sun.

"All of a sudden panic set in and we started to sink.

"Life vests were thrown around and I realised we were in real trouble. We knew we were going to have to get off."

Luckily, the children were fitted with life jackets.

As the boat started to sink, passengers managed to flag down a scuba-diving boat which picked up one of the children.

Everyone else was forced to jump into the water and await rescue.

It took just ten minutes for the boat to sink.

Mr Barnes told the Herald Sun it was a harrowing and frightening ordeal for everyone involved.