Phuket: 20 divers rescued as boat sinks in Andaman Sea

[webfact]

Phuket: 20 divers rescued as boat sinks in Andaman Sea
Alasdair Forbes


The MV Blue Star, belonging to Chalong Sea Sports, caught fire and sank in Burmese waters while on a week-long dive trip.

PHUKET: -- Another dive boat has been lost in the Andaman Sea, the second in less than two weeks.

Details are sketchy but it has been confirmed that the MV Blue Star, belonging to Chalong Sea Sports, caught fire and sank in Burmese waters while on a week-long dive trip.

All 20 or so people on board are safe, though they lost their belongings, and a great deal of expensive dive gear is understood to have gone down with the boat.

Pekka Torri, the Finnish principal of Chalong Sea Sports, confirmed that the boat had been lost with all equipment after a fire.

The Phuket News understand that the fire may have been the result of an electrical fault but Mr Torri said he was as yet unable to confirm that this was the case.

He confirmed, however, that all the crew and divers were rescued unharmed, having been taken off the burning vessel by a passing fishing boat. All have now returned to Phuket. He declined to comment further.

The Blue Star was a 28-metre liveaboard vessel with 13 cabins capable of accommodating up to 26 passengers. She had a maximum speed on 10 knots.

On January 29, the dive boat Aladdin, based out of Ranong, was holed and sank in 10 minutes As with the Blue Star, there were no casualties but the boat was a complete loss.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-20-divers-rescued-as-boat-sinks-in-andaman-sea-44528.php


-- Phuket News 2014-02-10

[Khun Robert]

Good to read that again all passengers and crew are all safe.

Bad to read that another dive boat went down.

[davejones]

No boat trips for me when I go to Phuket. And no buses either. Nor vans. Nor motorcycles. Looks like I'll be walking everywhere.

And there was that boat that sunk off Pattaya recently as well. Shocking safety standards.

[Guest]

While on Chalong sea sports. Does anyone know where their earlier Similan boat, Thai Sea, is or has it been decommissioned already?

[fifthcolumn]

Makes three this season. Looks like no one is maintaining the boats. The shark dive shops selling packages should be liable as well.

[Old Croc]

No boat trips for me when I go to Phuket. And no buses either. Nor vans. Nor motorcycles. Looks like I'll be walking everywhere.

.

There was a couple of Korean pedestrians killed recently also.

I think, wherever you are , you should just stay in bed.

[stevenl]

No boat trips for me when I go to Phuket. And no buses either. Nor vans. Nor motorcycles. Looks like I'll be walking everywhere.

.

There was a couple of Korean pedestrians killed recently also.

I think, wherever you are , you should just stay in bed.

Like the german guy who died there?

Sent from my D90W using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Guest]

No boat trips for me when I go to Phuket. And no buses either. Nor vans. Nor motorcycles. Looks like I'll be walking everywhere.

.

There was a couple of Korean pedestrians killed recently also.

I think, wherever you are , you should just stay in bed.

Like the german guy who died there?

It's better to stay at home.. oh wait, plenty of accidents happen while in home.

As far as I know, no one has been able to survive the life. Some people however take the best of it while they are still breathing.

[IrishIvan]

Chalong Sea Sports is fairly reputable though arent they? Not like some of the other fly by night diving companies

I think this might just be bad luck.

[stevenl]

Chalong Sea Sports is fairly reputable though arent they? Not like some of the other fly by night diving companies

I think this might just be bad luck.

Agree with you, I trusted that boat and think it was bad luck. The company was taken over before the season started, and money for investments was lacking.

Sent from my D90W using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[andreandre]

Chalong Sea Sports is fairly reputable though arent they? Not like some of the other fly by night diving companies

I think this might just be bad luck.

Agree with you, I trusted that boat and think it was bad luck. The company was taken over before the season started, and money for investments was lacking.

Sent from my D90W using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Not sure what you are trying to say here...

Bad luck ,and/or " money for investments was lacking"

Do you mean lack of money lead to lack of maintaining a safe seaworthy boat..if thats so its not bad luck its bad management, isn't it?

[brianP]

Sounds like a good place to scavenge dive for gear.

[jacko45k]

Again!

Some confusion there in Phuket.

The boat is meant to stay up on the surface and the divers go down to the bottom!

[captnhoy]

If you want to talk responsibilities, what about the safety inspection process from the gov't licensing agency? IMO, whether you talk about the lack of safety on boats or on the highway, a primary underlying responsibility always points back to a lack of gov't requirements.

[cloudhopper]

Bad luck my ass. Another nautical POS sinks off Phuket. Anyone chartering anything here is taking a big risk.

[PattayaPhom]

Good they are all saved. When living in Phuket knowing some of the companies and the drunken sexpat dive instructors and x bar girl staff they employed its any wonder it dosnt happen more regularly

[stevenl]

Chalong Sea Sports is fairly reputable though arent they? Not like some of the other fly by night diving companies

I think this might just be bad luck.

Agree with you, I trusted that boat and think it was bad luck. The company was taken over before the season started, and money for investments was lacking.

Sent from my D90W using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Not sure what you are trying to say here...

Bad luck ,and/or " money for investments was lacking"

Do you mean lack of money lead to lack of maintaining a safe seaworthy boat..if thats so its not bad luck its bad management, isn't it?

Maybe because I am saying 2 things?

1. I do think this was bad luck;

2. I also have the feeling they could have improved the boat by making made some more investments, but money was lacking for that. Having said that, I have the feeling, but without knowing the exact cause this is impossible to confirm or deny, this 'mishap' would not have been prevented by having made some or all of these investments.

[jocko]

If you want to talk responsibilities, what about the safety inspection process from the gov't licensing agency? IMO, whether you talk about the lack of safety on boats or on the highway, a primary underlying responsibility always points back to a lack of gov't requirements.

In my experience of living here the Thai's don't seem to worry about safety just think about your house electrical system no earth on many of them and if you ever look at your appliances that have a earth wire it's almost never grounded it's lack of training .

I find it almost impossible to get my Thai wife to get somebody in to fix something properly its always the same phone call to the same guy who knows someone and when I want to buy some tools I get why you need.

As far as I can see there is not much preventive maintenance the attitude being if it ain't broke don't worry.

[stevenl]

And we have 1 more liveaboard diveboat sunk, this time at Hin Daeng, apparently also fire, no injuries or dead.

[steelepulse]

And we have 1 more liveaboard diveboat sunk, this time at Hin Daeng, apparently also fire, no injuries or dead.

Oh my. What's the word in the diving community on how all of these boats have gone down? Weather hasn't been extreme, just a bit of wind.

[stevenl]

And we have 1 more liveaboard diveboat sunk, this time at Hin Daeng, apparently also fire, no injuries or dead.

Oh my. What's the word in the diving community on how all of these boats have gone down? Weather hasn't been extreme, just a bit of wind.

No wind at all to speak off.

As I said earlier, without knowing exactly what caused the fires it is impossible to come up with anything useful about this.

[noikrit]

Amazing Thailand ..... The new HUB of wreck dives .....

[Maggusoil]

If you want to talk responsibilities, what about the safety inspection process from the gov't licensing agency? IMO, whether you talk about the lack of safety on boats or on the highway, a primary underlying responsibility always points back to a lack of gov't requirements.

In my experience of living here the Thai's don't seem to worry about safety just think about your house electrical system no earth on many of them and if you ever look at your appliances that have a earth wire it's almost never grounded it's lack of training .

I find it almost impossible to get my Thai wife to get somebody in to fix something properly its always the same phone call to the same guy who knows someone and when I want to buy some tools I get why you need.

As far as I can see there is not much preventive maintenance the attitude being if it ain't broke don't worry.

Yes lucky the divers could all swim!

"Never fear", could have been a saying originating here. Outside my house we had a some power lines that had been erected on a tree pole.

They were sagging and needing relocating. As I was contemplating a "safe" way to do this and considering the purchase of a ladder to start, one of the brothers shinnied up the pole in bare feet and attacked the problem with a chisel, a hammer and a couple of nails. Prizing the lines off and re-locating them.

Another phrase that comes to mind is "She'll be right mate."

Don't howl me down, but I think at least, by now the airlines are reasonably safe in Thailand. So much for the boats.

[IrishIvan]

And we have 1 more liveaboard diveboat sunk, this time at Hin Daeng, apparently also fire, no injuries or dead.

Which boat was it?

[cavin]

Walking in phuket

No boat trips for me when I go to Phuket. And no buses either. Nor vans. Nor motorcycles. Looks like I'll be walking everywhere.

And there was that boat that sunk off Pattaya recently as well. Shocking safety standards.

Having walked in Phuket my first month I can state that due to poor condition sidewalks and businesses using them for stock and motorcycles parked to block and low eyelevel pokey things sverywhere,I believe that it is the most dangerous way to travel of all. Thailand very safe unless you want to go somewhere.

[cavin]

Walking in phuket

No boat trips for me when I go to Phuket. And no buses either. Nor vans. Nor motorcycles. Looks like I'll be walking everywhere.

And there was that boat that sunk off Pattaya recently as well. Shocking safety standards.

Having walked in Phuket my first month I can state that due to poor condition sidewalks and businesses using them for stock and motorcycles parked to block and low eyelevel pokey things sverywhere,I believe that it is the most dangerous way to travel of all. Thailand very safe unless you want to go somewhere.

[andreandre]

Walking in phuket

No boat trips for me when I go to Phuket. And no buses either. Nor vans. Nor motorcycles. Looks like I'll be walking everywhere.

And there was that boat that sunk off Pattaya recently as well. Shocking safety standards.

Having walked in Phuket my first month I can state that due to poor condition sidewalks and businesses using them for stock and motorcycles parked to block and low eyelevel pokey things sverywhere,I believe that it is the most dangerous way to travel of all. Thailand very safe unless you want to go somewhere.

Sooo you will choose to walk everywhere even tho' in your mind walking is the most dangerous way to ''travel''..

Go buy a bulk pack of cottonwool and wrap yourself up in that and stay in your room...[even tho' that can also be deadly!!]

Enjoy your holiday....

[ppmacready]

Good to read that again all passengers and crew are all safe.

Bad to read that another dive boat went down.

Practice makes perfect!

[skorchio]

No boat trips for me when I go to Phuket. And no buses either. Nor vans. Nor motorcycles. Looks like I'll be walking everywhere.

And there was that boat that sunk off Pattaya recently as well. Shocking safety standards.

Absolutely, and I can attest to the high quality of the footpaths.

Approximately 10% of streets have one, and any of the level surfaces have already been claimed for sales of trinkets and the like, forcing the pedestrian to walk on the road. Just make sure you walk contra-flow so that u will be aware of your own death.

[Wombat6]

While on Chalong sea sports. Does anyone know where their earlier Similan boat, Thai Sea, is or has it been decommissioned already?

Thai sea has been operating out of Ranong for some years now.