Chiang Rai: Rescuers make progress on day seven

[rooster59]

Chiang Rai:  Rescuers make progress on day seven

Royal Thai Navy SEALs prepare to dive further yesterday after reaching the third chamber of Tham Luang cave, as all-out efforts to rescue 12 teenage football players and their coach continue.

 

Divers reach deeper into cave in search for missing group as drilling goes on for alternate entry

 

A MASSIVE RESCUE operation to reach the 12 young footballers and their coach trapped in a flooded Chiang Rai cave yesterday ended its seventh day with some advances but no success in pinpointing the missing team.

 

The rescue mission is being waged on all possible fronts, including flying drones and dropping survival boxes containing cellphones, food and flashlights through cracks in the mountain above the cave in the hope that they might reach the group.

 

With rising floodwaters hindering efforts to reach the group from the 10-kilometre-long cave’s only known entrance, rescue teams continued to look for alternative ways into the complex.

 

A search team utilising information from cave rescue experts flown in from the United Kingdom has found the most promising looking shaft to date. Paratroopers in the morning descended into the shaft to a depth of 11 metres, before it levelled out then plunged a further 11 metres.

 

Discovered after topographical analysis in collaboration with foreign experts, the shaft boosted hopes of locating the missing group, who are believed to have been stranded inside the cave by flash floods. 

Efforts are now being focused on this shaft, which is now considered the best potential alternative entry.

 

Photographs taken deep inside the shaft are being relayed back to planners and analysts in an effort to forge a strategy to gain access to the cave. GPS images indicate the mouth of the shaft sits just 60 metres above a main hall of Tham Luang Cave. 

 

 

Meanwhile, Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn revealed that rescuers had dropped about 40 metres down the shaft before it levelled out. They expect to explore further below the shelf to see if the shaft connects to the main chamber.

 

Hopes were raised after a series of photos posted on the Navy Seal Facebook page revealed the SEAL divers had advanced as far as the third chamber inside the cave.

 

The chamber is connected to the dry area dubbed Pattaya Beach where the missing team is believed to be sheltering.

 

The video clip shows two divers laying electric cable before returning to the chamber. Facebook video clips released earlier show strong water currents inside the chamber where high water levels leave little or no air space for divers to breath.

 

The SEAL teams continue to face almost zero visibility in the cave’s muddy water and unknown terrain.

 

Outside the cave, efforts to drain the floodwater by drilling wells yesterday were not successful.

 

Every section of Thai society is lending a hand with the rescue efforts, joined by personnel from several foreign countries. 

 

Experts from Laos, the UK, US and Japan are on site in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district to provide assistance. China yesterday said it would send six cave-rescue experts with experience in Myanmar and Nepal. They will arrive with hi-tech equipment including an underwater robot.

 

Rescue officials have dropped dozens of survival boxes containing food, maps and mobile phones into shafts near the cave, hoping they will reach the trapped team.

 

The “hope boxes” also contained snacks, drinks, candles, blinker, pens for marking, mobile phones, flashlights and a lighter.

 

Each box contains a message asking the finder to phone the rescue team and tell them their location and the extent of their water and medical supplies. The message also says, “Please mark on the map where you are. Everyone will come and help you immediately.”

 

The boxes were dropped into waterways and open channels at Doi Pa Mee cliff located upstream of Tham Luang Cave in the hope they will float towards the missing group.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30348973

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-30

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Drilling near cave’s tail end to begin today

By The Nation

 

 

Shafts being opened close to locations where missing team thought sheltering.

 

A RESCUE TEAM will begin drilling a shaft near the tail end of Tham Luang Cave today to boost efforts to save 12 teenagers and their football coach. 

 

Flash floods are believed to have stranded the 13-strong group inside the cave since last Saturday.

 

As floodwaters have blocked rescue efforts that started from the cave’s only known entrance, rescue planners have turned to drilling in a bid to open new access points close to where the group is believed to be located. 

 

As of press time, Royal Thai Navy SEAL divers have managed to reach only as far as the third chamber from the cave’s mouth.

 

Drilling the shaft near the tail end of the cave may allow rescue planners to see the latter part of the 10-kilometre-long complex and send food to the missing. 

 

 “We have decided to go ahead with drilling the chosen shaft near the end of the cave,” Suwit Kosuwan, who heads the Environment Geology Bureau’s Active Fault Research Unit, said yesterday. 

 

He said that although the drilling equipment was heavy, it was not beyond the rescue team’s ability to move it up to the mountain above Tham Luang Cave. 

 

According to the plan, the drilling at the tail end will first create a small hole wide enough to insert a camera and then send food down if the team is found to be there. “After that, we will decide what to do next,” he said. 

 

Three spots for drilling were chosen on Thursday. 

 

Drilling started at the first spot, a cliffside near the cave entrance, on Thursday night in the hope of more quickly draining floodwater from the cave. But the effort was unsuccessful. 

 

Drilling at the second spot, near the tail end of the complex, will begin today, while the third spot is a shaft high up on the mountain above the middle zone of the cave.

 

“For the third spot, we are still waiting analysis of the mountain rock layers to plan the drilling,” Suwit said. 

 

He said if the resistivity survey showed that drilling was possible, it would begin today at the third spot – the closest to where the missing are thought to be sheltering.

 

The sound of drilling would |boost the morale of the trapped teenagers, said King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang president Suchatvee Suwansawat yesterday. 

 

‘Sound will raise their spirits’

 

“I believe they are still alive. When they hear drilling sound, they will realise that help is coming, their spirits will rise,” he said. 

 

Suchatvee said Tham Luang Cave was made of limestone, which meant drilling should be easy if the equipment was properly installed and careful analysis conducted. 

 

“Rescue operations are difficult because of continued downpours. But with engineering technology, equipment and all-out rescue efforts, hope remains that all missing will be saved,” he said. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30348965

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-30

[Jonathan Fairfield]

International friends send in teams of experts, equipment

 

 

THE INTERNATIONAL community continues to provide support in Thailand’s hour of need, joining the effort to rescue 12 teenaged football players and their assistant missing in a Chiang Rai cave, Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said yesterday.

Countries have expressed their worries as well as dispatched rescue experts to join the efforts on the ground at Tham Luang cave in the province, he said. 

 

Experts and technical assistance from the United States, United Kingdom, China, Japan, Myanmar and Laos has arrived at the site, Don said. 

 

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-0-cha said he would ask Myanmar to help block water flowing into the cave, which is located near the border.

 

Six Chinese cave search and rescue experts arrived in Chiang Rai yesterday, along with high technology equipment such as a 3D spectrometer and underwater robots, according to the Chinese Embassy in Thailand. The team has experience in cave rescues in Myanmar and Nepal. 

 

Earlier, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said two experts would advise the Irrigation Department on the task of draining water out of the cave to enable rescue teams to reach inside portions of the cave.

 

Two high-pressure water-pumps provided by JICA assistance to the department have been sent to the site.

 

Thailand is seeking assistance from Japan to have muddy water divers join the team on the ground, according to an official at the Foreign Ministry. 

 

Foreign experts working at the cave, including rescue and diving teams from the United States Indo-Pacific Command (PACOM) and United Kingdom, have been at the site since Thursday.

 

The US PACOM brought |high technology equipment, including 3D infra-red scanners and satellite linked geological survey monitors, to aid the Thai team in the operation.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30348966

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-30

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Scientists seek to reduce water level in cave, get access from above

By Pratch Rujivanarom 
The Nation 
Chiang Rai 

 

 

GEOGRAPHICAL EXPERTS, academics and local people have pitched in to provide scientific data about the Tham Luang cave network to support the official rescue mission for the youth football team believed trapped inside.
 

Those working on the rescue speak of a tough operation, a battle against nature, in which human ingenuity is being pitted against elemental powers in a bid to alter the balance and free the trapped footballers.

 

As of press time, the mission to pull 12 teenaged footballers and their assistant coach out of the flooded cave in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai District has not succeeded despite six days having passed since the group was trapped inside by a flash flood.

 

Knowledge and analytical power is being brought to bear on this difficult problem by many experts, including geographers from the public sector and various universities, who have stepped up to share their expertise. They hope to fill in the knowledge gaps left by incomplete surveying and geographical examination, by applying their expertise in geography, geology, mapping and hydrology to seek ways into the Tham Luang cave network.

 

 Anukoon Sorn-ek, an independent geographical expert and leader of their team, said there is a lack of clear information about the complex cave network and the mountain above.

 

“From my observation when working with the official team, I have found that the official agencies’ teams still have a problem caused by the lack of geographical and hydrological data for the area, so most of the operations were executed without guidance and planning based on scientific data,” Anukoon said.

 

“Therefore, we can see that many missions failed, because of the lack of proper knowledge and information about the terrain.”

 

He said that his team was thus working against the clock to gather as much information and scientific data as possible to provide to the rescue teams in order to let them plan and make decisions based on analysed information.

 

The group’s discussions led to a strategy to seek information on the hydrological nature of the area so that they could advise on how to maximise water drainage from the cave. They found that the rate of natural water outflow from the cave system was only five cubic metres per minute, while the water inflow to the cave from rainwater over the mountain was as high as 25 cubic metres per minute.

 

They set up a precipitation measuring gauge at their main operation centre in Ban Pha Sak Village, around three kilometres away from the cave.

 

They have also tried to fly drones over the mountain to map out all major sinkholes to support the effort to reduce water inflow to the cave system and find alternative entrances to the cave from above.

 

The team also assisted the support team from the United States Air Force with their data and led them on a mission to survey the mountain.

 

Meanwhile, the situation inside the cave has slightly improved, according to a military news source, as the level of floodwater has lowered due to decreased rainfall and from drilling in the caves. The water level, however, remains too deep for the Navy SEALs to reach the inner part of the cave to find the missing football team.

 

“The water has reduced to the same level as Wednesday, and now we can access the third chamber of the cave around three kilometres from the entrance,” the source said.

 

“However, there was a leakage of electricity inside the cave, and we have had to shut it off, which make the officers’ operations inside the cave harder from lack of light.”

 

The source would not say whether there was anyone hurt from the electrical leakage, but many ambulances have been seen rushing to the cave entrance. 

 

Chiang Rai provincial governor and leader of the rescue operation, Narongsak Osottanakorn, dismissed the reports and said that some officers had fainted from insufficient rest.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30348971

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-30

 

[rooster59]

A 40-metre deep shaft found on Doi Pha Mee

 

 

A search team has found a 40-metre deep shaft at Doi Pha Mee giving hope that if further drilled may lead rescue teams to Pattaya Beach where the 13 missing are believed to be taking refuge.

 

The team of policemen, troops and officials of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, led by a western cave explorer, Werne Unsworth, found the shaft.

 

Another search team, led by the national police chief, Pol Gen Chakthip Chaichinda, also conducted search to look for shaft northward of Doi Pha Mee.

 

Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/40-metre-deep-shaft-found-doi-pha-mee/

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2018-06-30

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Unable to find lost boys, Thai police drop survival packages into cave

By Chayut Setboonsarng

 

 

CHIANG RAI, Thailand (Reuters) - As a search in Thailand for 12 boys and their soccer coach missing inside a flooded cave entered a sixth day on Friday, police dropped survival packages through a shaft drilled in the mountainside not knowing if anyone was there.

 

The fate of the boys, aged between 11 and 16, and their 25-year old coach has gripped the country since they went missing on Saturday after they decided to explore the 10-km (6 mile) long Tham Luang cave complex in Chiang Rai province, despite warnings that the maze of passages and chambers is prone to flooding.

 

Bicycles and soccer shoes belonging to the boys were found near the entrance, and rescue workers think muddy handprints inside the cave could have been left by the group.

But the search has yielded no other trace.

 

International rescue teams, including one sent by the United States Pacific Command, are helping the Thai military and police in a search that has been hampered by heavy rain.

 

Police have been scouring mountain slopes above the cave in search of other ways in as divers tried to find their way through the flooded passages.

 

Twenty packages filled with water, food, medicine, flashlights and a note for the missing team were dropped down a fissure in the cave, police said.

 

Unsure of the boys' location, they hoped the boxes would reach them.

 

"If the children find this box we want them to float the box out of the cave," police Colonel Kraiboon Sotsong told reporters.

 

"The note says: 'If received, then reply and show on the map where you are. Everybody will quickly help'."

 

There has been an outpouring of support for the missing 13.

 

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha visited the site on Friday to urge on the rescuers and assure relatives keeping vigil that every effort was being made.

 

"Whatever can be done, do it, the government will back it," said Prayuth. "I've come to give everyone encouragement."

 

A group of school children has posted a video on Facebook featuring a song they wrote for the missing boys.

 

"Heavens please have mercy ... Please let them be safe, I pray to Mae Nang Non, please have mercy," the children sang, pleading to a deity, known as Mae Nang Non, who is believed to protect the Tham Luang cave.

 

Thailand is predominantly Buddhist and while it is hurtling toward modernity, animist beliefs and superstitions exert a strong influence over many people.

 

Several hashtags have appeared on Twitter in support of the 13 including "don't give up", "stay strong" and "13 Hope".

 

International soccer clubs, including the British teams Liverpool and Chelsea, have also expressed concern for the boys.

 

"Our hearts are in Tham Luang. We're praying for the boys and every rescue officer to return home safely. YNWA," wrote Liverpool, referring to its "You'll Never Walk Alone" anthem.

 

(Additional reporting by Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Panarat Thepgumpanat, Pracha Hariraksapitak and Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Robert Birsel)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-06-30

 

[Jeremy50]

Those boxes should each have a red bicycle light in them, on flash mode they will stay flashing for 48 hours, and are so bright, they can be seen from a mile away, with one in each box, the cave will look like a disco.

 

With so many people from so many countries now on site, this operation has reached critical mass, and has taken on a momentum all of it's own, an unstoppable force which will likely see the missing boys found eventually. Let's hope someone capable is orchestrating and coordinating the show, or it risks deteriorating into a chaotic Tower of Babel.

[pegman]

Let's hope today is the day these kids are found safe.

[pegman]

25 minutes ago, Jeremy50 said:

Those boxes should each have a red bicycle light in them, on flash mode they will stay flashing for 48 hours, and are so bright, they can be seen from a mile away, with one in each box, the cave will look like a disco.

 

With so many people from so many countries now on site, this operation has reached critical mass, and has taken on a momentum all of it's own, an unstoppable force which will likely see the missing boys found eventually. Let's hope someone capable is orchestrating and coordinating the show, or it risks deteriorating into a chaotic Tower of Babel.

This obviously is a very difficult operation. Otherwise one of these teams from near and far would have found them by now. Some of the most advanced nations on earth including the Americans, Germans, Chinese, Japanese and Brits are involved. Speculation about there just needing to be a better big boss or white divers have proven to be nonsense. 

[rooster59]

From drones to subs: A hi-tech mission

By The Nation

 

PTT personnel prepare a thermal imaging drone during the rescue operation for a missing children’s football team and their coach in Tham Luang cave. // AFP PHOTO

 

LAND, water and airborne technologies have been added to the arsenal of equipment being used in the search and rescue effort for the 12 teenaged footballers and their assistant coach believed trapped in a flooded Chiang Rai cave since last Saturday.

Land-based technologies

 

The impressive Leica Scanner P20, provided by RSK Rescue Equipment Co Ltd and used since the night of June 27 to provide survey data at the site for analysis. It is an ultra-high speed infrared laser scanner that can look through walls, see in the dark and deliver an image of the cave’s interior with good detail and 3D quality. The device costs US$70,000 (about Bt2 million).

 

Waterborne technologies

 

Hi-tech special diving gear from Sweden and Italy provided by the team of Thai personnel led by former singer Narinthorn na Bangchang.

 

A submersible robot equipped with sonar, provided by PTT Exploration and Production. It is capable of producing an underwater map useful for the human divers working in the muddy water. 

 

An award-winning remotely-operated underwater robot, provided by King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUNB). It can dive 100 metres down and allows its operator to see detail via the VR headset.

 

The Zeabus AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle), which ranked fifth in the Robosub 2016 competition in the US, and was provided by Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Engineering. It can provide images of the cave underwater.

Airborne technologies

 

Two heat-detecting drones from KMUNB, one being used to survey from outside the cave and paired with a waterproof diving-abled drone. They are used to survey inside the cave.

 

Three drones normally used to explore for petroleum and provided by PTT Exploration, each equipped with a 30x optical zoom camera and a heat-detectors. They are able to take and process aerial photographs and incorporate shots into a 3D map.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30348968

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-30

[darksidedog]

It seems every piece of technology available is being brought to bear. The spirit of cooperation both nationally and internationally is great to see. I just hope that they manage to make a breakthrough quickly. Time is the enemy.

[rooster59]

A 12-man Seal reinforcement team arrives at the cave with more equipment

 

 

The second 12-man Seal team arrived at Tham Luang cave on Friday to beef up the search and rescue operations to assist the 12 footballers and their coach who have gone missing inside the cave with their fate unknown for seven days today.

 

The Seal reinforcement was accompanied by Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Narit Pathumsuwan who said that the new arrivals would work alternately with 13 Seal members who have been at the cave since the beginning of the operation.

 

He said the main obstacle hampering the efforts of the Seal team is the high water level and strong currents in the cave.

 

Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/12-man-seal-reinforcement-team-arrives-cave-equipment/

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2018-06-30

[Eric Loh]

Maybe they should shut all equipments and use the high tech detection devices to listen for 15 minutes every now and then.The trapped kids could have been making noises to alert the rescuers. The mass of noises from working equipments and people would have been picked up by those trapped and they would have responded. Still unsure who is in charge. 

[RandolphGB]

A week later and there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Why did the coach take the boys in the cave without checking the weather forecast? Thais always seem to be able to look at the sky and tell when rain is approaching.

 

Secondly, I’ve seen that they entered the cave at around 1pm but there has been no chronology of roughly how far inside they would have been at walking pace when the rain started. 

 

I just don’t think even the most foolish adult would have gone deep inside the cave, considering how deep it is and just a few hours from nightfall.

 

Personally it looks to me like they were under a mile inside and tried to run back to the entrance when rain started but were overcome by the deluge and have been washed deep inside the cave.   

[pegman]

15 minutes ago, RandolphGB said:

A week later and there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Why did the coach take the boys in the cave without checking the weather forecast? Thais always seem to be able to look at the sky and tell when rain is approaching.

 

Secondly, I’ve seen that they entered the cave at around 1pm but there has been no chronology of roughly how far inside they would have been at walking pace when the rain started. 

 

I just don’t think even the most foolish adult would have gone deep inside the cave, considering how deep it is and just a few hours from nightfall.

 

Personally it looks to me like they were under a mile inside and tried to run back to the entrance when rain started but were overcome by the deluge and have been washed deep inside the cave.   

The cave moves higher from the entrance Sherlock.

[greenchair]

Never give up.

Never give in.

Never surrender.

We all hope today will be the day to bring that team home! !!!!!

 

[ChrisY1]

Time is running out for these kids......have to make a positive very soon.

[denby45]

"Each box contains a message asking the finder to phone the rescue team and tell them their location and the extent of their water and medical supplies. The message also says, “Please mark on the map where you are. Everyone will come and help you immediately.”"

 

Really??????

 

Den

[ubonjoe]

A inflammatory inappropriate post and replies to it have been removed.

[Tug]

Still here take great care hoping for safety and success 

[IamNoone88]

There's some very tough and very brave people people doing the diving and cave exploration there. Respect.

[NCC1701A]

good graphic:

 

 

[NCC1701A]

live video:

 

 

[Eric Loh]

It is now a race against time after 7 days. I am getting bit worried about their health and safety. Praying hard for the kids and hope they pull through and be saved soon. 

[stevenl]

A Belgian cave diving instructor I know has just said in a Dutch newspaper (translated):

 

" ,Visibility is extremely limited and the currents really strong, Reymenants told the Belgian broadcaster RTBF. ,,The Navy has put in ropes we use to pull ourselves forward, but after 2 kilometers there are no more ropes, from that point on we're searching without visibility and against the current.”

This afternoon (so yesterday, Friday 29 June) Reymenants dove 2,5 kilometers into the cave, still 1 km away from where the expectation is the children are. However the current was too strong to go any further. The trip out and back took him five hours and was exhausting. Even for a very experie4nced diver as he is the diving there is very risky. ,,Very strong currents and mud. We don't even see our own instruments. The current is at certain places so strong our diving masks are pulled away and we're threatening to lose them.” "

 

[rooster59]

Officials make more preparations to resume search of cave

By The Nation

 

 

Officials from several government agencies started making preparations to resume the search operations for the 13 missing footballers in Chiang Rai's Tham Luang Cave at 7am.

 

Forestry officials, Disaster Prevention and Mitigation officials, border patrol policemen and officials from other agencies started preparing equipment and foods to survey shafts leading to the cave.

 

Some prepared equipment to climb down a 40-metre deep shaft after they climbed down on Friday to find a chamber with more passages. They plan to survey the passages on Saturday.

 

On Saturday, 50 officials from the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department in Chiang Mai will also join the search.

The officials took along food and drinks before embarking on the search operations.

 

Meanwhile, a monk led relatives of the missing 12 youths and their assistant coach to hold a morning prayer inside a tent set up for the families. The families appeared exhausted after waiting in the tent for days.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30348995

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-30

[Jonathan Fairfield]

TNA Live feed:

 

 

[rooster59]

Border patrol policemen airlifted to resume shaft search

By The Nation

 

 

Five helicopters airlifted a team of border patrol policemen on Saturday morning to resume search of a shaft over the Tham Luang Cave.

 

Deputy Police Commissioner-General Pol General Veerachai Songmetta, who heads the team, said the team will climb down the 60-metre deep shaft from Pha Mee Mountain to try to reach three chambers on the side of the cave where the 13 young footballers may have been trapped since last Saturday.

 

On Friday, the police had reached the bottom of the shaft but had not entered a hole believed to be connected to the chambers, Veerachai said.

 

The border patrol policemen are now equipped with wireless communications tools that would feed their pictures back live to the top of the mountain where Veerachai is based for analysis.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30348997

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-30

[rooster59]

‘Poor coordination in cave search leading to waste of time’

By The Nation

 

Lerpong Suansang, head of a search team of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department

 

A senior rescue official complained about the wastage of time caused by the lack of adequate coordination between several teams exploring shafts over Chiang Rai’s Tham Lung Cave.

 

Lerpong Suansang, head of a search team of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, said there were several teams searching for shafts that could offer a passage to chambers in the cave where it is believed a 13-member football team could have been trapped.

 

Lerpong said several shafts had been searched that they only led to a dead-end but due to lack of coordination other teams also ended up searching the same shafts, assuming them to be new discoveries.

 

He said there should have been better coordination so that all the rescue teams were aware of which shafts had been searched.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30348999

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-30

[NCC1701A]

30/06/18 11.20 am Good news. SEAL is able to settle at Hall 3. Air tanks are being sent in. Front command will be set up there.

 

https://twitter.com/chocalemon/status/1012915011587473408

 

 

Edited June 30, 2018 by NCC1701A