Raja ferry runs aground at Koh Phangan - second time this week passengers are inconvenienced

[webfact]

Picture: Naew Na

 

Naew Na reported that a second ferry belonging to the Raja company ran aground after leaving the Ban Thong Sala port on the southern Thai island of Koh Phangan yesterday morning.

 

The boat called Wang Kaew was carrying 114 Thai and foreign tourists and 35 vehicles when it got stuck on a sand bar exposed in unusual weather conditions.

 

District chief Wijan Junthawijit and other officials were on the scene after passengers alerted relatives who arrived at the port. 

 

The vessel ran aground at 8 am and it was 10 am before it could continue it's voyage to Donsak on the mainland. 

 

Naew Na further reported that a boat with the designation R9 belonging to the same company also ran aground on Monday causing a five hour delay and inconveniencing dissatisfied passengers. 

 

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[worgeordie]

They are not very good at steering ships too ,it seems

micro sleep , rudder failed ,no pedals so cannot blame them. 

Ah ! the sea was wet ........

regards Worgeordie 

[VocalNeal]

Shifting sand and low tide????

[Rhys]

Danger Will Robinson.

 

[RJRS1301]

16 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

They are not very good at steering ships too ,it seems

micro sleep , rudder failed ,no pedals so cannot blame them. 

Ah ! the sea was wet ........

regards Worgeordie 

Unmarked sand bar, exposed by weather, probably deep enough to not be seen, but shallow enough to catch the vessel  nothing unusual about that.

[scorecard]

12 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

Unmarked sand bar, exposed by weather, probably deep enough to not be seen, but shallow enough to catch the vessel  nothing unusual about that.

Sure, but hopefully official records of these sandbars / places where they are most likely to develop / better methods of detecting them before the vessel is there are being developed.

 

Then again TIT...

 

[Tropicalevo]

26 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

Unmarked sand bar, exposed by weather, probably deep enough to not be seen, but shallow enough to catch the vessel  nothing unusual about that.

And very low tides at the moment.

https://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks/Ko-Samui/tides/latest

[VocalNeal]

Dose Koh Phangan harbour master have any buoys????

[Greg O]

Low tides greater than the mean this month and many ships and ferries being delayed and inconvenienced by the low tides . We were delayed two hours at the Lomprayah pier in Chumphon yesterday morning waiting for the tide to to rise and float the boat....more coffee please ! 

[Burma Bill]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

when it got stuck on a sand bar

Perhaps the Burmese "dip stick" method should have been employed. Witnessed and photographed by me on a slow cruise to Bagan on the Irrawaddy River. A crew member shouts the depths to the Captain who will take evasive action if it becomes too shallow! (please note the boat is flat bottomed)

 

 

[JeffersLos]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

when it got stuck on a sand bar exposed in unusual weather conditions.

 

 

The water was wet? 

[khunPer]

The sand moves swiftly at coasts of the Samui and Phangan islands when it storms, so together with high waves and low tide it's probably difficult.

[hotchilli]

20 hours ago, webfact said:

Naew Na further reported that a boat with the designation R9 belonging to the same company also ran aground on Monday causing a five hour delay and inconveniencing dissatisfied passengers. 

So these vessels have no depth of water indication at the helm and Captains who are incompetent?

[hotchilli]

18 hours ago, RJRS1301 said:

Unmarked sand bar, exposed by weather, probably deep enough to not be seen, but shallow enough to catch the vessel  nothing unusual about that.

There are these fantastic aids called "depth finders" fitted to the bottom of ships that send out echo sound waves and tell you how deep the water is.

Also these ships ply these routes every day, they know where the channels are and any sandbars.

This is just poor seamanship... end of.

[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Also these ships ply these routes every day, they know where the channels are and any sandbars.

This is just poor seamanship... end of.

Sandbanks move with the tides. End of.

[KhunLA]

Yes, very low tide session this week.   I could easily walk across the bay to the islands off shore.  Lots of boats in the bay/on the sand, playing dry dock, and getting barnacles scrubbed.

[KannikaP]

16 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Perhaps the Burmese "dip stick" method should have been employed.

The Thai dip stick method was employed, ie the Captain was a dip stick.  555

[bendejo]

It's a moon thing.