20 rescued as third dive boat sinks off Phuket

[IrishIvan]

Sounds like an opportune moment to get into the liveaboard business

[gandalf12]

A number of years back I was having our house re-wired as the wiring was old. The Thai guys who came to do the job seemed to know what they were doing and got stuck into the job.

Never having witnessed a Thai guys doing such a job I was interested to see their standard (as it turned out lack of would be more appropriate description). They tried to join cables by twisting the cores together and wanted to run the telephone cable in the same duct as the mains voltage.

I did stop them and explained how the job should be done which they managed with a lot of support.

I dont know if this is their normal way of working but I hope it isnt for what I experienced is a recipe for disaster. If they adopted the same standards on the dive boats it doesnt surprise me they had a fire

[brianP]

I thought some one made fondue on the deck.

[stevenl]

Sounds like an opportune moment to get into the liveaboard business

Just take into account, and that is one of the major problems, you will have to make your income for a full year in only half a year.

Sent from my D90W using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[madmitch]

The answer to why so many boats are sinking is easy.

Too many boats and few customers makes for a sweet insurance claim.

Who is going to go searching for a boat when no one knows where its exact position is.

"Insurance jobs" generally don't happen when a boat (or any other business come to that) is full of customers).

Every time there's a fire in Thailand someone comes up with this mantra.

[IrishIvan]

Heat activated sprinkler systems in the engine room would do you much more good than a smoke detector whilst everyones asleep

Good way to either electrocute people, or, sink a boat. No boats use water sprinkler systems in an engine room and all engine room systems are manually activated.

This is because they use carbon dioxide (previously Halon) and the engine room must be evacuated before the CO2 system is activated.

Ivan, I think you're qualified to be a Thai safety officer.

So how about i go down into the engine room of the ship I am on now, and get a few photos of the sprinkler systems AND fire hoses that are placed all around the engine room.

Yes they have CO2 but that is only used when all other systems fail. Its a last resort. Stick to what you know best which is oil rigs and not boats

[KarenBravo]

@Ivan,

I don't work on rigs. Have been on boats 38 years. They may have water hoses but NO engine room has an automatic water sprinkler system.

Go ask your chief engineer. An IR knows sweet FA.

Edited February 13, 2014 by KarenBravo

[jocko]

Heat activated sprinkler systems in the engine room would do you much more good than a smoke detector whilst everyones asleep

Good way to either electrocute people, or, sink a boat. No boats use water sprinkler systems in an engine room and all engine room systems are manually activated.

This is because they use carbon dioxide (previously Halon) and the engine room must be evacuated before the CO2 system is activated.

Ivan, I think you're qualified to be a Thai safety officer.

So how about i go down into the engine room of the ship I am on now, and get a few photos of the sprinkler systems AND fire hoses that are placed all around the engine room.

Yes they have CO2 but that is only used when all other systems fail. Its a last resort. Stick to what you know best which is oil rigs and not boats

Fires on ships are put out with sea water I know, I was on one that had a big fire

Oil rig fires are also put out with sea water how could a tank of CO2 put out a big fire.

But the engine room can be isolated and CO2 puts out the fire.

You hope.

Edited February 13, 2014 by jocko

[KarenBravo]

I am talking about fixed fire fighting systems that put out engine room fires which is what Ivan first started to talk about,

All of these are manually initiated. No point having it automatically start for a fire in a waste bin that can be put out with a water hose, or, extinguisher.

The sprinklers that Ivan has spotted will be foam, also manually initiated, but, there will be a CO2 in addition whereby the engine room is sealed.

I repeat, there are no automatic water sprinkler systems in engine rooms. Think about it. It's quite logical.

Edited February 13, 2014 by KarenBravo

[IrishIvan]

Hang on, you were the one that said water couldnt be used in engine rooms. Now you are saying it can be. Yes on commercial ships there are no heat activated sprinklers, I never said they were. I just said they have sprinkler systems on ships/tenders. But on tankers there are heat activated sprinklers in pump rooms etc.

Anyway as this thread is about smaller dive boats I will stick to the topic.

I was suggesting that heat operated sprinklers on small commercial live aboards might be the answer.

Who said I was an IR? Im a crane op, same union. You might get paid for what you know, but i get paid for who I know

@Ivan,

I don't work on rigs. Have been on boats 38 years. They may have water hoses but NO engine room has an automatic water sprinkler system.

Go ask your chief engineer. An IR knows sweet FA.

[KarenBravo]

Righto.

(I said no water sprinkler system, not, no water).

Edited February 13, 2014 by KarenBravo

[stevenl]

The answer to why so many boats are sinking is easy.

Too many boats and few customers makes for a sweet insurance claim.

Who is going to go searching for a boat when no one knows where its exact position is.

"Insurance jobs" generally don't happen when a boat (or any other business come to that) is full of customers).

Every time there's a fire in Thailand someone comes up with this mantra.

On top of that, for an insurance job the possession of adequate insurance is a requirement.

[belg]

thailand should have a submarine base, at least, those boats are already submurged

[KarenBravo]

What they need are properly qualified marine auditors that can't be bought. We all know what the chances of that happening is.

[IrishIvan]

Righto.

(I said no water sprinkler system, not, no water).

No you said "Good way to either electrocute people, or, sink a boat. "

Thank god you arent down the engine room

Edited February 13, 2014 by IrishIvan

[KarenBravo]

Whatever Ivan......

[socksy01]

Hub for sinking boats...sorry couldn't resist as I love these hub jokes.

Seriously though I'm glad all have been rescued.

Think it should be sub not hub. Should be good for divers in the future the amount of wreck sites they will be able to explore and also for sea anglers. Must be like a ship's graveyard down there.

[heybuz]

i'm no expert but on all commercial boats in Australia where i live the engine rooms have halon systems.not my word but ex brother in law marine surveyor for state government

[IrishIvan]

i'm no expert but on all commercial boats in Australia where i live the engine rooms have halon systems.not my word but ex brother in law marine surveyor for state government

CO2 now mate, they are phasing out halon as its harmful to the environment/ozone layer