Tourists, crew safe as dive boat sinks off Similan Islands

By Eakkapop Thongtub

 

A tour boat sank off Similan Islands in the early hours of today (Feb 24). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

 

PHANG NGA: A total of 11 people, including four foreign tourists, were taken to safety in the early hours of today (Feb 24) after the dive boat they were on board of sank off Similan Islands.

 

The Similan Islands National Park  Headquater and the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command base in Phang Nga received a notification of a marine accident off Similan Islands at 02.45am today. The incident happened not far from a small beach on one of the islands of the archipelago.

 

At the scene the joint team discovered a partially submerged dive boat, named in their report as Panthip 2.

Read more at https://www.thephuketnews.com/tourists-crew-safe-as-dive-boat-sinks-off-similan-islands-70495.php#HvPhZS0TsBQXkOeW.99

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2019-02-25

In Thailand, it seems the Thais "engineers" build boats only for sinking.

31 minutes ago, car720 said:

how do you let a beautiful boat like this just sink?

Just put a Thai captain on it...that's all.

Looks like a yacht possibly converted for diving. Will be very interesting to find out the reason it sank. 

One wonders if the issue is the low quality construction of these boats, or the poor skills of the captains, or a disregard for weather? Seems like an awful lot of boats going down lately. 

3 minutes ago, car720 said:

how do you let a beautiful boat like this just sink?

It looked beautiful above water, but you never know what flaws are hidden below the waterline.

Build quality, build materials, over loading, increase/change in usage and poor daily maintenance (if any) lead to any boat sinking.

Thai Navy's submarine crew practicing again.

Close to beach, found submerged Dive Boat Panthip 2. Not a good idea to run over sunken vessel that was not hazard marked. I think I'll sink my Dive boat here, no problem, it's close to the beach, no one will mind.....no mind sits well.

I wonder if Bilge alarms, and automatic pumps are part of the standard requirements here. ?

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

One wonders if the issue is the low quality construction of these boats, or the poor skills of the captains, or a disregard for weather? Seems like an awful lot of boats going down lately. 

Well that certainly covers all the bases Mike ????

low quality of these boats made in Thailand! ya! it's like a road just finished in Paanthong (near Chonburi) few days after opening the road is quite unusable, corruption is back as before and work done is bad everywhere!

Why oh why cant the Thai government use the huge amount of years of experience that the Expats living here possess, to remedy this problem with tourist vessels regarding seaworthiness and Safety?

The News of this will already be around the world, just on Social media alone....

 

Another dive site for the similans.  Panthip 2 wreck dive.  Should be plenty big for a swim through.  I am sure the Chinese divers with find some way to have there children pee on it.  

Want to experience sinking? Book a holiday in Thailand with guaranteed success! 

Getting some of that Submarine training in before they arrive....... "It's a dive boat Somchai, it doesn't mean it dives" ! 

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

One wonders if the issue is the low quality construction of these boats, or the poor skills of the captains, or a disregard for weather? Seems like an awful lot of boats going down lately. 

Plus nothing ever checked, either by the owner, the captain or the officials.

It's the rocks fault.

What was the excuse?... rain made the roads (sea) slippery? Brakes failed?

 

It would seem that there are a dissprortionate number of boats sinking over here... 

Maybe the boat was feeling left out and wanted to join in the fun ????

1 hour ago, weegee said:

Why oh why cant the Thai government use the huge amount of years of experience that the Expats living here possess, to remedy this problem with tourist vessels regarding seaworthiness and Safety?

The News of this will already be around the world, just on Social media alone....

 

Because Thais know best.

Seems incompetence gets you all the good jobs in Thailand.

4 hours ago, Borzandy said:

In Thailand, it seems the Thais "engineers" build boats only for sinking.

....and yet they have to go to China to buy submarines?!!!!

Funny old world! ????

I am an ex United States Coast Guard licensed master, I wont go on a boat here in Thailand..just my 2 cents..

7 hours ago, webfact said:

dive boat sinks

Can't blame boat operators - it is called a "dive" boat.

5 hours ago, fruitman said:

Just put a Thai captain on it...that's all.

and the captain always goes down with the ship 

3 hours ago, weegee said:

The News of this will already be around the world, just on Social media alone....

 

The world doesn't actually care about an insignificant South-East Asian backwater that has no interest in or influence on anything or anyone outside its borders.

Amazing Thailand! In all my travels... In all 5 of the countries I've lived in.. Thailand is the WORST for so many things! 

 

It's not too surprising though. 80% of the times I order food or drink in a resteraunt in thailand... They server forgets something. I order in thai language ... Something simple.. Coffee with a little milk. Most of the time... no milk arrives. Drives me mad. "Leo beer Nam keng krap" ... I get just a beer. Drives me f'ing mad! 

 

Maybe these boat operators forget basic stuff also? I think so... 

 

St. Brendon (the navigator) must have been smiling down.

Not so regarding the lovely boat, though.

I'd love an update on the insurance claim.

3 hours ago, weegee said:

Why oh why cant the Thai government use the huge amount of years of experience that the Expats living here possess, to remedy this problem with tourist vessels regarding seaworthiness and Safety?

The News of this will already be around the world, just on Social media alone....

 

It seems loss of face is more important than loss of life. So many countries possess years of experience in areas that seems to baffle homegrown experts hereabouts. It is evident from mispelled highway signs, extending to tried and true methods of roadway, mobile traffic policing. In a country that cannot enforce simple helmet laws, it is no wonder boats seem to sink with regularity, buses crash almost weekly and electrocutions of passersby are not unusual. This country has 65+ millions of people and is a hub of so many areas of mayhem.

There are reefs, rocks at the water's edge, not visible especially in the volcanic regions and not always on the nautical charts for the small ones.  I am a sailor, I lived on my own boat without another house, I was at this time a volunteer of the SNSM (the French Society of Rescue at sea) so I had logically a lot of acquaintances among the captains of pleasure boats. One of them who was working for a rich Japanese, cast a catamaran on rocks, not far from the coast, on a rock a few feet deep. There were no casualties, the boat remained as in the photos without sinking deeper, the time to the navy, the country, I do not remember which one, to come and rescue them. He told me at the time is the shame of my life, but it was impossible to avoid, I was not going fast, brrr, big noise under the hull, and waterway! So before bringing everything back to incompetence (which certainly is more than common, because here the real sailors are a rare commodity, I think that in the tourist places anyone could declare himself with maritime competences LOL), but we should anyway wait for the results of the survey, for everyone has the right to the presumption of innocence...The only thing that bothers me is that the local sailors, they at least, are supposed to know ALL the reefs in the waters that they attend every day... which was absolutely not the case of my story that happened in unknown waters thousands of miles away...