Samui ferry with garbage trucks in accident

[Swimfan]

49 minutes ago, khunPer said:

URGENT: All ferries between the islands Phangan, Samui, and Tao, and to the mainland have been stopped from today, August 2nd for three days, including till August 4th, by decree from the Governor of Surat Thani.

Wasn’t it just between 5pm and 5am ? 

[lom]

2 minutes ago, Swimfan said:

Wasn’t it just between 5pm and 5am ? 

I think so, that's what my son told me.

[khunPer]

7 minutes ago, lom said:

11 minutes ago, Swimfan said:

Wasn’t it just between 5pm and 5am ? 

I think so, that's what my son told me.

I was just posting the information I've read in English. There is however an image of the document in Thai language, perhaps someone can clarify what is says...

 

[BigC]

Death toll is 3. 

[khunPer]

Update on accident

It has been reported that two of the seven missing people has been found, and only one body (not two, as previous mentioned), that of the captain, which found on Koh Mod Daeng island, near Koh Tan.

 

Four people are still missing.

 

There were 16 people on board, of which four were passengers, drivers from three truck and a pick-up car, and 12 were crew members including a sales girl.

 

Someone mention in a post "why no helicopters were used", actually three helicopters took part of the search and rescue.

[Tidybeard]

Two years ago, I wrote an article for the old Samui Times headed " An accident waiting to happen".

I wrote of my experience on a Raja ferry and included about 20 photos of the terrible state of the ship. So now it has eventually happened.

The seas are a little rough at present, but no where near bad enough to sink a ship that is in good condition. 

The ship I photographed had buckled sides, rust everywhere and parts falling off it... if they are still using that sort of boat it is not surprising an accident happened. 

Being a cargo boat, I am guessing that safety is not so high, so in slightly rough seas, some of the cargo shifted and over she went.

The authorities that let Raja continue to operate need sacking !!!! 

[Tropicalevo]

3 hours ago, Tidybeard said:

The seas are a little rough at present, but no where near bad enough to sink a ship that is in good condition. 

 

Winds were forecast to be up to 58 kph. That is a pretty big factor in a high sided RORO, slow moving ferry.

There are trees down where I live and that is on land.

Edited August 2, 2020 by Tropicalevo

[PoorSucker]

3 hours ago, khunPer said:

found on Koh Mod Daeng island

That's 13 km away from the route Samui - Donsak 

[Mansell]

Very sad to hear of people being lost at sea. Prayers for their souls and their families.

[Tropicalevo]

10 hours ago, PoorSucker said:

That's 13 km away from the route Samui - Donsak 

Bangkok Post article reports that Mr Pachara, a survivor, drifted in the sea for two or three hours, kept afloat by a rubber buoy. He drifted towards Koh Taen

[khunPer]

16 hours ago, khunPer said:

It has been reported that two of the seven missing people has been found, and only one body (not two, as previous mentioned), that of the captain, which found on Koh Mod Daeng island, near Koh Tan.

It think my source here is wrong, other articles today (August 3rd) mention the sales-woman from the ferry shop as well, so two bodies found.

[animatic]

23 hours ago, PoorSucker said:

If they were found on Koh Taen that ferry was on the way to khanom or really of course. Koh Taen is fairly big island 20 min south of Samui. 

Not necessarily. The wind was blowing so that a SW headed boat going with the seas would float that way and currents would pull a guy in life jacket in that direction. He also swam towards the island when he saw it.

[Tropicalevo]

Raja Ferries are not having much luck.

Vehicle loading ramp collapsed this morning. Big truck wedged under the wharf.

[khunPer]

On 8/3/2020 at 6:59 AM, khunPer said:

On 8/2/2020 at 2:51 PM, khunPer said:

It has been reported that two of the seven missing people has been found, and only one body (not two, as previous mentioned), that of the captain, which found on Koh Mod Daeng island, near Koh Tan.

It think my source here is wrong, other articles today (August 3rd) mention the sales-woman from the ferry shop as well, so two bodies found.

There seem to be some unclear information about missing people in the media, or rather the sales woman.

 

One more body has been forud, an engineer working in the machine room. Earlier the captain's body was found near Koh Taen.

 

It has been mentioned that the sales woman might have been caught inside the shop, hopefully the volunteer dive-instructors from Koh Tao can help to clear that.

 

Edit: Thai PBS confirms that there are three people missing.

Edited August 4, 2020 by khunPer

[khunPer]

6 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Raja Ferries are not having much luck.

Vehicle loading ramp collapsed this morning. Big truck wedged under the wharf.

 

[khunPer]

This news video in Thai language shows about the search for missing bodies – the clip with jet skis are the water by Koh Taen, where aother body already was found – and also talks about the garbage problem, and that they will remove the garbage from the wreckage when the three missing bodies have been found...

 

 

[BigC]

 The incident occurred between the four islands, about 2 nautical miles from the pier in the Koh Samui district, with 16 passengers on board (12 crew members, 4 drivers). 2. Assistance Able to help safely, 11 people died, 3 still lost 

[khunPer]

New media begin to state five nautical miles instead of five kilometers, as the distance from Lipa Noi.

 

The body of the sales woman has finally been found, inside the sunken ferry, so now three confirmed dead (not 11, as mentioned above), and two still missing...

 

Quote

Rear Admiral Nopparat Lumlert, deputy commander of the Second Fleet, said today that the divers found the female victim trapped inside the toilet.

 

He said that the steel toilet door is small and the victim, already in the state of decomposition, is large, rendering it impossible for divers to recover the body.

 

The search for the other two missing crew members was called off late today, due to poor underwater visibility and bad weather.

 

The latest victim has been identified as Mrs. Napatda Chanharn, 40, of Maha Sarakham province, who worked as a saleswoman on board the ferry.

Source: PBS "Another missing ferry crew member found trapped inside sunken vessel".

[khunPer]

Model calculation of where the garbage from the capsized ferry will float to...

 

[khunPer]

Divers that found the body of sales woman today working at the wreckage of Raja 4...

 

 

 

 

Quote

Underwater survey mission: Rawi Royal Boat Command Center; 8 divers from Ivan Karadzic's Koh Tao team, one of the Danish divers that helped evacuating the 13 Wild Boars from Luang Khun Nam Nang Non cave; Navy Seal Charity Foundation Surat Thani.

Source: สุรชัย ส้มเกลี้ยง.

Edited August 6, 2020 by khunPer
Source

[khunPer]

On of the surviving garbage truck drivers – Mr. Boonchuay Nuamprom, age 42, domiciled in Bang Muang Subdistrict, Takua Pa District, Phang Nga Province – tells his experience (in Thai) from the ferry capsize to MGR Online, according to Samui Update News' Facebook-page.

 

 

In short, as I understand it from the Google-translation:
the truck driver Mr. Boonchuay says that the ferry hit strong waves shortly after departing from Raja's Lipa Noi Pier, causing the boat to tilt and lose its balance. The parked trucks were move to the right side of the bow, after which the ferry began to tilt. Water started to flow in on the cargo deck. The captain (or the bridge) announced that the ferry could not be controlled, and that everybody should escape and assemble on the to upper deck.

 

After realizing that the situation was dire Boonchuay used a life buoy along with Mr. Chai Chan Laosap, another truck driver, but they were separated when escaping from the upper deck. Different people were scattered separately. Boonchuay was floating, but was later able to join a group of eight people, who had rubber boats. About half an hour later the water police found them, and they were taken to the Koh Samui hospital about 1 am.

 

Boonchuay complains that there has been no help or representatives from Raja Ferry, wherefore he tell his story to the press. He hope that his driver friend has survived and floated to one of the islands, and will be found alive. 

 

Quote

เนื้อข่าว - วันนี้ ( 8 ส.ค.) เข้าสู่วันที่ 7 ของเหตุการณ์เรือเฟอร์รี่ล่มกลางทะเลเกาะสมุย จ.สุราษฎร์ธานี ทำให้มีผู้เสียชีวิตแล้ว 3 ราย และยังสูญหายอีก 2 ราย ทีมค้นหาจากเจ้าหน้าที่หลายหน่วยงาน เช่น หน่วยซีล ของทหารเรือ ทัพภาคที่ 2 ตำรวจน้ำ ฝ่ายปกครอง หน่วยป้องกันและบรรเทาสาธารณภัย และ ทีมนักประดาน้ำจากหน่วยกู้ภัยต่าง ๆ ยังเดินหน้าปฎิบัติการค้นหาอย่างต่อเนื่อง

ขณะเดียวกัน นายบุญช่วย น่วมพรหม อายุ 42 ปี ภูมิลำเนา ต.บางม่วง อ.ตะกั่วป่า จ.พังงา หนึ่งในผู้รอดชีวิต ได้มาติดตามการค้นหาร่างของนายไชยชาญ เหล่าทรัพย์ เพื่อนร่วมงาน ที่ขับรถบรรทุกขยะ ที่ขณะนี้ยังค้นหาไม่พบ เปิดเผยว่า ในคืนเกิดเหตุ ตนได้ขับรถบรรทุกขยะ พร้อมกับเพื่อนอีก 3 คน คนละคัน ระหว่างเรือออกจากท่าเทียบเรือได้ระยะหนึ่ง เรือเฟอร์รี่ได้กระแทกกับคลื่นสูง ทำให้เรือเอียงและเสียการทรงตัว ทำให้รถบรรทุกที่จอดอยู่ในระวางเรือ ไหลเทไปรวบกันที่กราบเรือข้างขวาหมดทุกคัน ทำให้เรือเอียง และน้ำทะเลได้ซัดเข้ามาที่ตัวเรือทางกราบขวาของเรือ ทำให้ข้าวของบนเรือในห้องโดยสารได้หล่นเทลงมา หลังจากนั้น พนักงานบนเรือ ได้ประกาศว่าไม่สามารถควบคุมเรือได้แล้ว ขอให้ทุกคนหนีขึ้นไปรวบพลกันอยู่บนชั้นดาดฟ้า

ส่วนตัวนายบุญช่วย หลังจากที่เห็นว่าสถานการณ์เริ่มเลวร้าย ได้ใช้ห่วงชูชีพ พร้อมกับ นายไชยชาญ เหล่าทรัพย์ คนขับรถบรรทุก คนที่ยังสูญหาย ได้หลุดออกจากชั้นดาดฟ้าลอยคอในทะเล และต่างคนต่างกระจายแยกกัน ส่วนตัวเองได้ลอยอยู่ประมาณครึ่งชั่วโมง ต่อมาก็สามารถเข้าไปรวมกลุ่มกับกลุ่มที่มีแพรยางก่อนแล้ว 8 คน รวมทั้งตน 9 คน รวมกลุ่มกันอยู่ จนมีเจ้าหน้าที่ตำรวจน้ำ และทางเจ้าหน้าที่ทหารเรือเข้าไปช่วยเหลือ และนำส่งโรงพยาบาลเกาะสมุย โดยได้พักฟื้นที่โรงพยาบาล 1 คืน

“หลังออกจากโรงพยาบาล ยังไม่มีหน่วยงานของบริษัทเรือราชาเฟอร์รี่ เข้ามาดูแล หรือมาถามไถ่ หรือมีการเยียวยาอะไรเลย เงียบหายไปเลย จึงอยากฝากผ่านผู้สื่อข่าวไปถึงทางเรือราชาเฟอร์รี่ ให้มาถามกันบ้างว่าหลังจากเกิดเหตุการณ์ เป็นอะไรบ้าง ขณะที่เพื่อนคนขับรถบรรทุกอีกคนที่ยังหาร่างไม่พบ ตนยังมีหวังว่ายังจะมีชีวิตรอดอยู่ ภาวนาว่าให้เพื่อนลอยไปติดที่เกาะใดเกาะหนึ่งให้รอดชีวิต” นายบุญช่วย คนขับรถบรรทุก กล่าวในที่สุด

Sorce: Samui Update News.

 

[khunPer]

The video shows the visibility conditions the divers work under when searching the wreckage of Raja 4...

 

Source and more photos "สุรชัย ส้มเกลี้ยง"

 

[khunPer]

There are still two persons missing from the ferry accident, they are crew*member Tiwakorn Vachararit and lorry driver Chai chan Laosap.

[Huckenfell]

On 8/2/2020 at 9:28 PM, Swimfan said:

Sadly it was probably an accident waiting to happen with the state of the Raja ferry fleet. Have used boats to Samui many times but would never get on a Raja ferry even if you paid me. 

I agree with you and will only use the other company as their boats are well maintained. Unfortuantely i was put on a Raja by my Visa Run company and said that i will never use Raja again. It was first trip in the morning, but the boat was filthy with toilet wash basins either not working , lying on the deck or unclean, i also saw a large rat under the seats  foraging and completely ignoring me and other passengers, rust everywhere. Yes this was my last ever trip with Raja.  p.s. I spent 12 years at sea , so have an idea if a vessel is well maintained or not.

[khunPer]

This news video shows the plan of how to raise the sunken "Raja 4" ferry, and prevent the garbage from polluting the sea...

 

 

[khunPer]

The last two bodies found...

 

 

The Thai language article says:

Quote

...When the dives reached the stern area of the ferry (Raja 4), the two missing bodies were found, expected to be Mr. Tiwakorn Watchararit (sailor) and Mr. Chai Chan Laosap (18-wheel trailer driver). Their condition is bad as the bodies had began to decay. Divers were still unable to bring the bodies up due to the strong sea current, which can be dangerous. The plan has been adjusted to bring both bodies up tomorrow (18 Aug) at 7:00 a.m.

Full story in Thai: "พบแล้ว2ศพสุดท้าย! ร่างถูกพ่วง18ล้อทับ ติดซากเฟอร์รี่ล่มเกาะสมุย"

 

[Tropicalevo]

RIP people.

[khunPer]

The last two bodies has been taken up from the sunken ferry "Raja 4" and brought ashore.

[khunPer]

The governor of Surat Thani enforces every unit to learn from the ferry crash, so an accident like that will not repeat. He prepares for a drills for the marine rescue plan, to build faith and confidence in traveling, and to be more secure especially in the tourist areas.

 

Full article in Thai language ผู้ว่าฯ สุราษฎร์ธานีกำชับทุกหน่วยถอดบทเรียนเรือเฟอร์รี่ล่มป้องกันเหตุซ้ำ.

 

[Neilly]

7 hours ago, khunPer said:

so an accident like that will not repeat.

 

Shutting down Raja ferries would be a good start ????