Phuket Moorings Break Loose, Wreak Havoc For Yachtsmen At Chalong Bay

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Phuket moorings break loose, wreak havoc for yachtsmen at Chalong Bay

Phuket Gazette

Of the 200 new moorings dropped in Chalong Bay last month as part of a 5.8mn baht project, many of have already broken. Photo: Phuket Gazette

PHUKET: -- As yachts continue to arrive in Phuket ahead of the New Year's Eve celebrations and countdown tonight, the new moorings installed in Chalong Bay late last month have already wreaked havoc, with brand-new mooring lines breaking and setting boats adrift.

The broken lines have sent the yachts and other vessels to smash against their neighbors in the bay, resulting in complaints to the Phuket Gazette, with one skipper reporting four incidents on December 22 alone.

The news came after a 40-foot yacht, Jenzminc VI, broke free after it had been tied to one of the new moorings for about five days. The mooring line frayed and the boat collided with another yacht, sustaining damage.

The line was attached to one of 200 moorings laid by the Marine Department on November 29 in a project costing 5.8 million baht. The effort was undertaken to protect coral reefs from anchor damage.

But despite the carnage, Phuket Marine Chief Phuripat Theerakulpisut says the moorings are safe.

“We checked them before we made them available to the boat owners to use,” he said.

Chief Phuripat believes that the fraying lines may belong to moorings set and rented out illegally by local people.

“We are trying to verify this, and if we find the people, they will absolutely be prosecuted,” he says.

Nevertheless, he planned to immediately re-check the lines set by the department for which he is responsible.

Local yachties also said that the lines were strong enough. However, they blame the fraying on the direct attachment to the 2.5 ton concrete moorings. Without intermediary swivel systems that reduce friction, too much stress is placed on the ropes and they can chafe through.

Yachties voiced other concerns about the new moorings, notably that some of them were located too close to existing ones, risking collisions with the nearby vessels. One boat owner had his rudder torn off and a hole punched in the hull of his boat, costing about 30,000 baht in repairs and a further 25,000 baht in lost income from a cancelled day trip.

“Another 40-foot yacht [not the Jenzminc VI], this one owned by a Brit, was tied to one of the new moorings for six days,” a yachtsman told the Gazette.

“The owner thought everything was fine, until he came back from shopping to find a big dive boat bashing against his yacht. The mooring for the big dive boat was laid by the dive company some years back, and the new mooring was laid too close,” he explained.

Another concern is that some of the new moorings are posing a hazard at low tide.

“Some of the mooring blocks have been dropped in the shallower water, not far from the pier. There are some shallow patches that most boats avoid at certain tides,” another yacht owner told the Gazette.

“When the tide is low, the concrete blocks become navigation hazards, reducing the depth even more and replacing a soft muddy bottom with a solid concrete one,” he added.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...-Bay-19844.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-12-31

[NomadJoe]

I commented just the other day that several of the new moorings buoys seemed to be just 4 or 5 meters from each other.

No swivels, placed too close, navigation hazard at low tide...Good intentions but it sounds like the people in charge of this haven't a clue what they are doing.

[mervyn yap]

I think the moorings are for longtail boats not for the big yachts.

[cloudhopper]

I commented just the other day that several of the new moorings buoys seemed to be just 4 or 5 meters from each other.

No swivels, placed too close, navigation hazard at low tide...Good intentions but it sounds like the people in charge of this haven't a clue what they are doing.

Some of the TAT moorings in deeper water in the Surins and Butangs are quite useful but most of them have been placed with no regard for swinging room or tides. Also IMO no one should be allowed to place a private mooring in public waters.

[skorchio]

...Good intentions but it sounds like the people in charge of this haven't a clue what they are doing.

seems to be a common conclusion in many discussions eh? over a wide range of topics ....

[brucewillow]

The moorings that are breaking are most definitely the ones laid about two weeks ago by the government. The have no barnacles attached and consist of a government mooring buoy and a length of Rope frayed at one end the same design as used all over the region. I have several photo's of mooring from different locations around the bay all frayed through.

While I wouldn't advocate the method used I'm not sure that the rope tied directly to the block is the cause of the premature failures, as this is a system that has been used across the region for many years without chafing issues arising. I think it is more likely, that in the random way that they tossed them into the water, some landed upside down lying on the lines and subsequently causing the breakages.

The moorings were placed very randomly and also strewn across the fairway making entry and exit from the pier quite dangerous particularly at night time. In most parts of the world it is against the law to obstruct a fairway.

The new moorings were dropped close to existing moorings causing collision issues when dive boats returned home to their moorings. Also they were placed too close to each other, so that many can simply not be used safely.

The issue that the project is to protect coral reef is quite bemusing as Chalong Bay a muddy mangrove bay and will never have a coral reef on its shore where the moorings have been laid.

200 was also overkill as most will never be used. There are simply not that many visitors and there will never be in Chalong until they provide a proper floating pontoon access for yachtsmen with dinghys.

Such a shame they didn't lay some at Coral Island and nearby Nai Harn Bay as these are just two locations where they would be put to great use and would have protected coral reefs.

Edited January 3, 2013 by brucewillow

[noob7]

I commented just the other day that several of the new moorings buoys seemed to be just 4 or 5 meters from each other.

No swivels, placed too close, navigation hazard at low tide...Good intentions but it sounds like the people in charge of this haven't a clue what they are doing.

They had a lot of concrete blocks, wanted to get rid of and dumped 'em there, where they found some space.

[huuwi]

they should have dumped them as a begining of a break wall for the unused "marina" witch is falling apart already.

[NomadJoe]

The moorings that are breaking are most definitely the ones laid about two weeks ago by the government. The have no barnacles attached and consist of a government mooring buoy and a length of Rope frayed at one end the same design as used all over the region. I have several photo's of mooring from different locations around the bay all frayed through.

The comment that this is how it has been done all around the region is incorrect. Of the dozen or so dive sites I regularly dive here, many have moorings that have a thick plastic sheath protecting the rope from fraying where it connects to the blocks. It would appear they didn't use that sheath with the new moorings.