It was a fun outing at sea for everyone and nothing seemed amiss. At around 4pm, the Phoenix departed for Phuket island with its 105 passengers. 10 minutes into the journey, the sky turned dark. Half an hour later, the boat started shaking violently as a monsoon storm – said to be the biggest storm in five years – hit the boat some seven kilometres from shore. The ferry started rocking violently as giant waves buffeted it. Then it started listing, tossing its passengers to the deck.