Oil Transport Ship Stranded off Koh Mai Si Due to Engine Failure, Crew of 12 Safe

[Georgealbert]

 

 

Picture courtesy of response boats.

 

A ship transporting oil experienced engine failure and was swept ashore by strong waves, becoming stranded on rocks behind Koh Mai Si in Koh Kut District, Trat Province. The incident occurred on the morning of September 17, but fortunately, all 12 crew members on board were unharmed.

 

At approximately 08:00, Phairat Soisaeng, the district chief of Koh Kut, received a report about the tanker, identified as the Thai Laemthong 8, which had run aground on rocks near the back of Koh Mai Si, opposite the Soneva Kiri Resort. The ship, which had been en route from Cambodian waters to Rayong Province, encountered rough seas overnight and made an emergency stop between Koh Mai Si and Koh Kut to shelter from the storm.

 

 

However, early that morning, severe weather caused the engine to fail, leaving the vessel vulnerable to the strong waves. The waves pushed the ship onto the rocks, damaging the ship's hull and allowing water to seep in. The crew immediately worked to pump water out of the ship to prevent it from sinking.

 

Local officials, including police from the Koh Kut Police Station and officers from the Koh Kut Subdistrict Administrative Organisation, were dispatched to the scene in a small speedboat to assess the situation. Due to rough seas, they were unable to reach the ship directly, but confirmed that there were no injuries among the crew. There have been no reports of oil leakage into the sea.

 

Dechathorn Chanob, the mayor of Koh Kut Subdistrict, explained that efforts were underway to free the ship from the rocks. Two large fishing vessels and a ship from the Royal Thai Navy's 1st Fleet were called in to assist. However, due to the heavy weight of the tanker and the continued rough sea conditions, the operation to tow the ship back to open waters was unsuccessful.

 

Authorities are closely monitoring the situation to prevent any environmental damage and ensure the safety of the crew. Further rescue efforts will be made once weather conditions improve.

 

-- 2024-09-18

 

 

[Tropicalevo]

4 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Further rescue efforts will be made once weather conditions improve.

 

Let us hope that the ship does not break up meantime.

The forecast is for this weather to continue for the foreseeable future.

Edited September 18 by Tropicalevo

[hotchilli]

8 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

However, early that morning, severe weather caused the engine to fail, leaving the vessel vulnerable to the strong waves.

Does it have an outboard engine?

[JoePai]

severe weather caused the engine to fail  🤣

[n8sail]

Actually pretty common on boats.  Diesel fuel can grow algae and have other particulates in it, which tends to settle at the bottom of the fuel tank(s).  In very rough seas, the particulates get stirred up as the fuel sloshes around and clogs the filters (if there are any, TIT), or worse, the injectors themselves.  When troubleshooting a diesel, there's three main things that go wrong.  1.  Fuel problems   2.  Fuel problems   3.  Fuel problems.   🙂

And no, there is NO WAY this could have an outboard engine.  It is probably a 150-200 metric ton vessel capable of carrying may thousands of liters of No2. Fuel Oil

Some more photos below and also the location courtesy of my girlfriend who has friends in the marine department.  Pretty nice area, this is the island where the small Cesna plane that crashed directly into a mangrove swamp a few weeks back was bound for.   Luckily Diesel fuel is pretty 'light' and tends to disperse quickly, much easier cleanup than crude or other types of oil.

According to the article in Thai, the small speedboat shown here is actually owned by the resort as it was apparently too rough for the marine department's boat to go inspect the scene.

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, n8sail said:

Actually pretty common on boats.  Diesel fuel can grow algae and have other particulates in it, which tends to settle at the bottom of the fuel tank(s).  In very rough seas, the particulates get stirred up as the fuel sloshes around and clogs the filters (if there are any, TIT), or worse, the injectors themselves.  When troubleshooting a diesel, there's three main things that go wrong.  1.  Fuel problems   2.  Fuel problems   3.  Fuel problems.   🙂

 

Good info... But - if this were the case, it would happen to all ships in rough weather. 

 

So, is it a maintenance issue then ? Fuel filter not changed out ??

Filter clogged up very quickly... Too quickly ?

 

 

3 minutes ago, n8sail said:

And no, there is NO WAY this could have an outboard engine.  It is probably a 150-200 metric ton vessel capable of carrying may thousands of liters of No2. Fuel Oil

Indeed - a very strange comment.

[n8sail]

Just now, richard_smith237 said:

 

Good info... But - if this were the case, it would happen to all ships in rough weather. 

 

So, is it a maintenance issue then ? Fuel filter not changed out ??

Filter clogged up very quickly... Too quickly ?

 

 

Indeed - a very strange comment.

Vessels of this size, and prudent mariners on any boat, will generally have parallel filter systems, with a y-valve to quickly change from one to the other in the event one side gets clogged.  This allows continuous running, and ability to change the clogged filter 'on-the-fly'.  Often large boats 'polish' their fuel, pumping from one tank to another through a separate filter system to keep fuel clean.

This being Thailand, you have to wonder how well their filter systems were taken care of.  Dodgy fuel abounds in the marine industry, especially in SE Asia.

They do have their anchor down, which is the first thing you do in a situation where you lose propulsion.  Curious that in only 15-20 meters of water offshore from the island their anchor didn't set at all.   A boat this size normally carries enough anchor rode to easily anchor in 30-40 meters of water.  Generally sea-floor substrates in the Gulf of Thailand are Sand, ideal for holding, and the depth contours offshore do look like it's probably sandy, though the navigation charts I have don't show what the bottom is in this area.

 

[josephbloggs]

6 minutes ago, n8sail said:

Vessels of this size, and prudent mariners on any boat, will generally have parallel filter systems, with a y-valve to quickly change from one to the other in the event one side gets clogged.  This allows continuous running, and ability to change the clogged filter 'on-the-fly'.  Often large boats 'polish' their fuel, pumping from one tank to another through a separate filter system to keep fuel clean.

This being Thailand, you have to wonder how well their filter systems were taken care of.  Dodgy fuel abounds in the marine industry, especially in SE Asia.

They do have their anchor down, which is the first thing you do in a situation where you lose propulsion.  Curious that in only 15-20 meters of water offshore from the island their anchor didn't set at all.   A boat this size normally carries enough anchor rode to easily anchor in 30-40 meters of water.  Generally sea-floor substrates in the Gulf of Thailand are Sand, ideal for holding, and the depth contours offshore do look like it's probably sandy, though the navigation charts I have don't show what the bottom is in this area.

 

 

Interesting to have someone who clearly knows a lot about the subject sharing their insights, thanks.

Makes a change from the usual guff we get on here (outboard motors anyone?)

[richard_smith237]

Just now, josephbloggs said:

Interesting to have someone who clearly knows a lot about the subject sharing their insights, thanks.

Makes a change from the usual guff we get on here (outboard motors anyone?)

 

100% concur - thanks for the info @n8sail

 

When considering the Y-Valve system - I wonder if the 'back-up' was already in use and the primary never changed out... after all... the engine is was working (initially). 

 

--------

 

I remember when I first came out here with work. 

There was something broken on one of the piece of equipment but it was working, it was just working imperfectly. 

We had a backup so I switched to that....   and went about fixing the primary...

... the response from local colleagues "never fvck with something that isn't fvcked"... 

Their behavior was to only fix something that was 100% faulty, it 'just got by' then it was working !!!...  until it isn't... in which case, there's a backup, I lost count of the amount of times we'd switch to the back-up to find out that was also broken !!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bradiston]

6 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Good info... But - if this were the case, it would happen to all ships in rough weather. 

 

So, is it a maintenance issue then ? Fuel filter not changed out ??

Filter clogged up very quickly... Too quickly ?

 

 

Indeed - a very strange comment.

I think it was made in jest

[Wongkitlo]

On 9/18/2024 at 4:05 PM, richard_smith237 said:

 

100% concur - thanks for the info @n8sail

 

When considering the Y-Valve system - I wonder if the 'back-up' was already in use and the primary never changed out... after all... the engine is was working (initially). 

 

--------

 

I remember when I first came out here with work. 

There was something broken on one of the piece of equipment but it was working, it was just working imperfectly. 

We had a backup so I switched to that....   and went about fixing the primary...

... the response from local colleagues "never fvck with something that isn't fvcked"... 

Their behavior was to only fix something that was 100% faulty, it 'just got by' then it was working !!!...  until it isn't... in which case, there's a backup, I lost count of the amount of times we'd switch to the back-up to find out that was also broken !!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mai pben rai

[Wongkitlo]

On 9/18/2024 at 3:38 PM, n8sail said:

Actually pretty common on boats.  Diesel fuel can grow algae and have other particulates in it, which tends to settle at the bottom of the fuel tank(s).  In very rough seas, the particulates get stirred up as the fuel sloshes around and clogs the filters (if there are any, TIT), or worse, the injectors themselves.  When troubleshooting a diesel, there's three main things that go wrong.  1.  Fuel problems   2.  Fuel problems   3.  Fuel problems.   🙂

And no, there is NO WAY this could have an outboard engine.  It is probably a 150-200 metric ton vessel capable of carrying may thousands of liters of No2. Fuel Oil

Some more photos below and also the location courtesy of my girlfriend who has friends in the marine department.  Pretty nice area, this is the island where the small Cesna plane that crashed directly into a mangrove swamp a few weeks back was bound for.   Luckily Diesel fuel is pretty 'light' and tends to disperse quickly, much easier cleanup than crude or other types of oil.

According to the article in Thai, the small speedboat shown here is actually owned by the resort as it was apparently too rough for the marine department's boat to go inspect the scene.

Do you have any updates? Is the ship still there or has been reflected?

[n8sail]

On 9/22/2024 at 6:54 PM, Wongkitlo said:

Do you have any updates? Is the ship still there or has been reflected?

Just asked her, she hasn't heard anything else.  Like most news stories in Thai news media, this will likely be a 'one-and-done' story, unless one goes to see for themselves.