Phoenix, stranded and forgotten two years later

[webfact]

Phoenix, stranded and forgotten two years later

By The Phuket News

 

Preecha Jaiart, owner of the recovered wreck of the Phoenix, at Rattanachai Shipyard on the east side of Phuket Town, where the wreck remains today. Photo: Preecha Jaiart

 

PHUKET: Two years after the Phoenix tour boat overturned and sank in storm conditions south of Phuket, killing 47 Chinese tourists in Thailand’s worst maritime disaster in modern times, the recovered wreck remains at Rattanachai Shipyard on the east side of Phuket Town, alone and forgotten.

 

Preecha Jaiart, who bought the Phoenix wreck at auction from the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) in August last year, told The Phuket News that will conduct a merit-making ceremony later this week to honour those who died in the disaster, which also included the death of 37-year-old Thai diver Niphat ‘Joch’ Kludnak, who collapsed and died after surfacing from a dive to the wreck some 45 metres below the surface.

 

The death of Mr Niphat brought the total number of people who died as a result of the disaster to 48.

 

Full story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/phoenix-stranded-and-forgotten-two-years-later-76611.php

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2020-07-07

 

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[Don Mega]

I thought he was going to restore it and then sink it.

[smedly]

said he bought it to take it out and sink it, waiting

[scorecard]

6 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

I thought he was going to restore it and then sink it.

I seem to recall a very loud protest demanding that the ship be broken up for scrap and sold and the money used to support training of boats crews etc., as a display to the Chinese that action was being taken to improve safety.

Edited July 6, 2020 by scorecard

[RichardColeman]

If the economy does not pick up, he may find he has to evict 20 homeless families from it first

[ezzra]

It will cost a mint to restore it and even than anyone who'd the history of this boat will not but or take a ride on it unless he'll rename it and ship it elsewhere...

[cardinalblue]

I say put it in the center of Phuket town as a statue and let the kids crawl all over it...

Edited July 6, 2020 by cardinalblue

[Benmart]

Perhaps the families of those that died have not forgotten. 

[Don Mega]

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

It will cost a mint to restore it and even than anyone who'd the history of this boat will not but or take a ride on it unless he'll rename it and ship it elsewhere...

You miss the part where the new owner wants to sink it ?

[ThailandRyan]

57 minutes ago, cardinalblue said:

I say put it in the center of Phuket town as a statue and let the kids crawl all over it...

They will not get near it as they are afraid of ghosts and many believe it will be a vessel with trapped souls 

[ChakaKhan]

Dock it near the tourist area....invite chinese back on free visas...send burmese out to catch shrimp, or steal them from a fish farm, open all you can eat shrimp buffet for chinese tourists at double price, call it Gubba Bump Shrimp Palooza, offer free selfies with somchai in a giant shrimp costume, reap all the rewards... ????

[Kerryd]

Probably too costly to restore it now, after 2 years of being soaked and neglected. They'd literally have to strip the entire boat down to the bulkheads and rebuild it. Flooring, ceilings, walls, wiring, engines, instruments are probably all rotted/corroded by now.

Should have stuck a memorial plaque on it then sank it back where it originally went down and left it.

And yes, the guy who bought it at auction claimed he was going to "restore it" then sink it. Why you would bother restoring a boat that had sunk and then sat in a storage area for a year, just to resink it, is beyond me.

Unless of course he wasn't actually planning on sinking it at all, but was looking at restoring and then selling it. As it turns out, the guy who bought it does that for a living.  He sells second hand trucks, vans, buses, heavy equipment - and boats.

Oh look - he has the boat listed for sale on his site:
https://www.truck2hand.com/index.php?actions=content/view&content_id=1544803

And, quoting from the OP article "He noted that no one had approached him to buy the wreck, but declined to answer further questions...."

Lol - "Original price - 18,000,000. Selling for 900,000." "Second hand" ! 
Note: they claim "registration year" and "purchase year" as 2020. No mention of it's original name either.

Lots of photos and you can see from the pics of the engine how sad the condition of them is. (I don't have a clue about boats/ships, but to me the engines in the pic look way to small for a ship that size. They look like little 2 cylinder truck engines !)

Also, there's a photo taken from the side that better shows how "top heavy" that boat would have been. The pic in the OP doesn't make it look as bad due to the side angle.

  

And yeah, looking at some of the other pics on the site, this thing is a write-off. Literally everything is rotting inside.

[Cake Monster]

The wreck of the phoenix may be stranded in a Boatyard close to Phuket, but it has certainly not been forgotten by the families of the 48 people that perished.

Nor has it been forgotten by the Chinese Authorities, and the failure by the Thai Authorities to acknowledge the disaster upon the first anniversary certainly added salt to an open sore that remains to this day.

[beechbum]

38 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

Lots of photos and you can see from the pics of the engine how sad the condition of them is. (I don't have a clue about boats/ships, but to me the engines in the pic look way to small for a ship that size. They look like little 2 cylinder truck engines !)

It's got twin 6 cylinder HINO's.

[beechbum]

3 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

Nor has it been forgotten by the Chinese Authorities

How do you know?

[Colabamumbai]

The Chinese might buy it. 

[moojar]

Burn it.  Perhaps it will rise from the ashes.  

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Two years after the Phoenix tour boat overturned and sank in storm conditions south of Phuket, killing 47 Chinese tourists in Thailand’s worst maritime disaster in modern times, the recovered wreck remains at Rattanachai Shipyard on the east side of Phuket Town, alone and forgotten.

Only forgotten by T.A.T who would like everyone else to do the same !

Trusted Thailand.

[Grumpy one]

A quick paint job, then take it out and sink it  

That is IF you can insure it

 

[Searat7]

This boat cannot be restored as its design was flawed and it is not a seaworthy vessel under any circumstances. It was poorly constructed too and I believe it has a truck engine, not one specifically designed for marine use. Chop it up or sink it. Can you imagine what the Chinese would say if this boat was returned to service !!!

Edited July 7, 2020 by Searat7
Addition

[grumpy 4680]

      It's been said the phoenix was top heavy and underpowered, but still cheaper to rebuild than a new one. With the right displacement new engines, and maybe a little trimming of the superstructure, she could be fit for service again. even with a competent skipper who could ride out heavy seas would make a difference.

      When you see the size of modern cruise liners, and container ships, there is a way to build boats that are more stable, its just a matter of design.

[Burma Bill]

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

They will not get near it as they are afraid of ghosts and many believe it will be a vessel with trapped souls 

Absolutely true - the fear of ghosts!!

 

[Bangkok Barry]

6 hours ago, Don Mega said:

I thought he was going to restore it and then sink it.

How about reading the link.

[xerostar]

Does anybody know who designed and built this boat?

It looks way too top-heavy to me.

[Huckenfell]

1 hour ago, beechbum said:

How do you know?

Do  they even know of its existance or of the trail of corruption which followed its sinking.

 

[Huckenfell]

50 minutes ago, Searat7 said:

This boat cannot be restored as its design was flawed and it is not a seaworthy vessel under any circumstances. It was poorly constructed too and I believe it has a truck engine, not one specifically designed for marine use. Chop it up or sink it. Can you imagine what the Chinese would say if this boat was returned to service !!!

Where was it constructed ?

 

[Don Mega]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

How about reading the link.

Yeah not into clicking links sorry.

[hsovereign]

From what I was told, the Phoenix didn't overturn in storm, apparently the welds split open at the rear end due to the poor construction standards it was built to. 
You can only presume the whole ship is of the same crappy standard. They should have left it where it was so it could become a reef and fishing location like the ferry that's out there. 

[Dexxter]

2 hours ago, Huckenfell said:

Where was it constructed ?

 

Made in China? ????

[LivinginKata]

1 hour ago, hsovereign said:

From what I was told, the Phoenix didn't overturn in storm, apparently the welds split open at the rear end due to the poor construction standards it was built to. 
You can only presume the whole ship is of the same crappy standard. They should have left it where it was so it could become a reef and fishing location like the ferry that's out there. 

 

Such nonsense troll. Clearly know nothing about the report.