Phuket Marine chief blames captains for ramming hidden mooring blocks

[webfact]

Phuket Marine chief blames captains for ramming hidden mooring blocks
Phuket Gazette


Phuket Marine Office Chief Phuripat Theerakulpisut (center) said local skippers should know where unmarked moorings lie. Photo: Marine Office

PHUKET: -- Phuket Marine Office Chief Phuripat Theerakulpisut has blamed boat captains for ramming hidden concrete mooring blocks in Chalong Bay, saying local skippers should know where the unmarked moorings lie on the seafloor.

His comments follow the sinking of the 10-million-baht luxury cruise boat Lady Andaman, which struck an unmarked sunken mooring block while approaching Chalong Pier on Monday (story here).

“I inspected the site and confirmed that the mooring is not inside the approach channel [to Chalong Pier] – and we are not considering moving it,” Mr Phuripat told the Phuket Gazette.

He also urged boat captains to not “take a shortcut” out of the approach channel.

“I understand that it might save time, but it risks damaging your boat,” he said.

Mr Phuripat admitted there were many other unmarked moorings lurking beneath the water’s surface in Chalong Bay, and that his office had no idea where those mooring blocks might be.

He did not explain how boat captains seeking to anchor or moor their boats in the bay could safely navigate the waters outside the approach channel.

“The problem we are facing is people keep cutting the buoys off. I have no idea why they do that, maybe for money,” Mr Phuripat said.

“It is a complicated issue, as we cannot keep replacing missing mooring buoys forever.”

During the inspection yesterday, Marine officials tied a new buoy to the mooring that sunk the Lady Andaman, which will allow helmsmen of other vessels to safely see the mooring marker on the surface of the water.

“We can't track the location of every mooring we dropped and we don’t have a map for local captains to use, but this is no excuse – all boat captains know where they must sail their vessels and they should not take any shortcuts,” Mr Phuripat said.

The hidden moorings in Chalong Bay have remained a serious safety issue over the past year. On February 26, the tour boat “Booze Cruise” collided at low tide with an unmarked block in the middle of the approach channel to Chalong Pier (story here).

Not two hours later, a speedboat carrying tourists from Chalong Pier to a popular island resort off Phuket struck an unmarked mooring in the same location.

Popular Phuket yachtsman Richard Spraggs, from New Zealand, paid with his life for a boat collision while moored in the bay. He drowned in the early hours of January 25 while trying to reposition his yacht, which had drifted too close to another boat (story here).

Despite the ongoing damage to boats and loss of life, Mr Phuripat has held fast to his opinion that no further action needs to be taken to make the moorings safe (story here).

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2014/Phuket-Marine-chief-blames-captains-for-ramming-hidden-mooring-blocks-23365.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2014-01-23

[JoePai]

'no idea' - just about sums it up.

[Briggsy]

The marine chief is suggesting that 'captains' are not abiding by navigation lines and are sabotaging the buoys and are thus hitting underwater obstructions.

[noikrit]

Unbelievable !!! No responsibility at all ...

[JoeThePoster]

Any claim for damages to the concrete mooring blocks?

[huuwi]

If there is no hazard zone, lets create one.

Local captain did this so called shortcut for more years then he is on his post, and now he blame them.

Only action that maybe help, remove him from his post and then maybe something will happen.

[NomadJoe]

"Mr Phuripat admitted there were many other unmarked moorings lurking beneath the water’s surface in Chalong Bay, and that his office had no idea where those mooring blocks might be."

"...local skippers should know where unmarked moorings lie"

Does this guy think before he speaks?

[jpp2bkk]

This moron is useless, always blaming others or something else for things he should care. He is protecting speed boats and jet skis which are almost all illegals and are never charged when wrong doing even involving loss of life. This guy have the right connections and is paying well to keep his "job" unfortunately for Phuket's people safety.

[Langsuan Man]

Whenever you even think that you have heard it all, the do something even more outrageous like having:

hidden mooring blocks

[Tatsujin]

I blame the boat captains for not employing a local Thai medium/psychic at an exorbitant rate to determine the location of these hidden moorings. Failing to do this can only mean it's their own fault for hitting something they couldn't see, isn't marked and has moved since being installed. Simply common sense really.

[steelepulse]

According to the Phuket news, a new buoy has been installed and it took a private company to do so. http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-boat-eating-block-fitted-with-warning-buoy-44149.php

BTW, I think this guy is an idiot and doesn't think before opens his mouth. Blame everyone but yourself, since after all, it is your job to ensure safety amongst other supposed duties.

[iforget]

Representative of the dive company that re-installed the missing buoy (yup, just the one) had this to say about why buoys go missing:
1. Speedboats run over them and when the line gets tangled in the prop they cut the line and the buoy off.

2. People steal the line and buoy. The buoys have been seen for sale in local markets.

3. The buoy lines simply fray and part.

4. Boats that are too big to sit on one mooring alone gather three or four together. When the leave they just dump the buoys overboard in a messy clump. Don't bother to separate them.

[Suffinator]

This guy is the personification of being a moron. All I can conclude is that he must have connections in the right places for he would of been ousted years ago. This is the same guy who, in a quarterly meeting with foreign honory consuls declared that it was fine for Thais to mug and rob tourists because the tourists have big money.

Call this guy a waste of space is the nicest thing you could say; in fact he's a confirmed racist, bigot and doesn't give a crap about anyone other than himself and what he can stuff in his pockets.

And you wonder why some animals eat their young... wish this ****** would crawl back under his rock and never surface again.

[impulse]

"Highway department blames drivers for hitting unlit telephone poles installed in the middle of the motorway."

[Travel Dude]

The Phuket Marine office does not know where these moorings are. Nevertheless the local shippers should know. Khun Phutipat GO HOME!

You are not Qualified to be the Marine Chief with such an attitude and lack of responsibility.

Edited January 23, 2014 by Travel Dude

[Ulic]

This guy is the personification of being a moron. All I can conclude is that he must have connections in the right places for he would of been ousted years ago. This is the same guy who, in a quarterly meeting with foreign honory consuls declared that it was fine for Thais to mug and rob tourists because the tourists have big money.

Call this guy a waste of space is the nicest thing you could say; in fact he's a confirmed racist, bigot and doesn't give a crap about anyone other than himself and what he can stuff in his pockets.

And you wonder why some animals eat their young... wish this ****** would crawl back under his rock and never surface again.

I don't understand why you are holding back. Just tell it like it is.

[pistachios]

Khun Puriphat had two choices. He could lose face and admit his buoy project was a complete disaster (probably due to the budgeted money pocketed here and there) or he could deny any responsibility whatsoever. Obvious choice for him apparently, even if the second choice resulted in losing face by sounding like a cretin in several interviews. Maybe losing face in front of thousands of farangs doesn't count, as he thinks farangs are subhuman species?

At the end he probably doesn't care, he is keeping his job, and all this mess created a good reason to ask for a new budget. He is already setting the bar very high : according to phuket news ( http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-boat-eating-block-fitted-with-warning-buoy-44149.php ) “If I can’t get enough budget to do a project [properly], I won’t do it at all.”.

[steelepulse]

>> “If I can’t get enough budget to do a project [properly], I won’t do it at all.”.

Translation reads, " I need more cash personally, so if I don't get enough to do a half ass job and pocket the difference, I'll just keep whatever they give me for this project and say it's not enough to do a proper job".

[bubblegum]

Just when you think you've seen/heard it all..

[Bung]

In the real world they would have simply used gps to mark the positions of the mooring blocks then marked them on the official chart for the area and made the information available for captains to correct their charts accordingly. Oh, and they may have positioned them in deep enough water so boats wouldn't hit them at low tide.

Captains should also always use the approach channel and not cut corners but any hazard to navigation which these moorings are as they are in shallow water should have their positions marked. You can't just dump a few around and not mark where they are then expect captains to know where they are.

[impulse]

You can't just dump a few around and not mark where they are then expect captains to know where they are.

You can if you take a cut from all the ship repair facilities in town.

[stevenl]

In the real world they would have simply used gps to mark the positions of the mooring blocks then marked them on the official chart for the area and made the information available for captains to correct their charts accordingly. Oh, and they may have positioned them in deep enough water so boats wouldn't hit them at low tide.

Captains should also always use the approach channel and not cut corners but any hazard to navigation which these moorings are as they are in shallow water should have their positions marked. You can't just dump a few around and not mark where they are then expect captains to know where they are.

Well, that is what happened. But the blocks have been dragged by boats (in other words, the mooring project was not done properly in the first place), either intentionally or unintentionally, so the original locations have changed.

BTW, the boat that sunk this week is now raised and moored, at the new buoy attached to the block that sunk her

[impulse]

In the real world they would have simply used gps to mark the positions of the mooring blocks then marked them on the official chart for the area and made the information available for captains to correct their charts accordingly. Oh, and they may have positioned them in deep enough water so boats wouldn't hit them at low tide.

Captains should also always use the approach channel and not cut corners but any hazard to navigation which these moorings are as they are in shallow water should have their positions marked. You can't just dump a few around and not mark where they are then expect captains to know where they are.

Well, that is what happened. But the blocks have been dragged by boats (in other words, the mooring project was not done properly in the first place), either intentionally or unintentionally, so the original locations have changed.

BTW, the boat that sunk this week is now raised and moored, at the new buoy attached to the block that sunk her

And someone made money from the sinking and refloating. And that's the first place I'd look if the buoy(s) were to disappear again.

Always amazed that the discussion turns so quickly to the stupidity of the locals. Following the money would be a much more fruitful endeavor than calling them idiots.

Every once in a while, I'll read about US small town tire store owners who get pinched for tossing nails out on the highway on the approach to their stores. This story reminds me of those guys.

[NomadJoe]

Representative of the dive company that re-installed the missing buoy (yup, just the one) had this to say about why buoys go missing:

1. Speedboats run over them and when the line gets tangled in the prop they cut the line and the buoy off.

2. People steal the line and buoy. The buoys have been seen for sale in local markets.

3. The buoy lines simply fray and part.

4. Boats that are too big to sit on one mooring alone gather three or four together. When the leave they just dump the buoys overboard in a messy clump. Don't bother to separate them.

There was another major reason. They were installed wrong:

"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."

http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2012/Phuket-moorings-break-loose-wreak-havoc-for-yachtsmen-at-Chalong-Bay-19844.html

Edited January 25, 2014 by NomadJoe