Video Samui ferry inundated with water harks back to Townsend Thoresen disaster

[webfact]

Samui ferry inundated with water harks back to Townsend Thoresen disaster

 

Image: video screenshot

 

KOH SAMUI: -- Video of seawater gushing in to the car deck of a Koh Samui bound ferry has scared passengers and the public alike.

 

Footage of a nighttime trip from Don Sak to the island showed water pouring in through the open and close ramp area.

 

Some 193 people died in 1987 when The Herald of Free Enterprise listed and capsized off Belgium when water entered through the open bow doors in one of the worst maritime disasters in European history.

 

On that tragic occasion the car deck was flooded in what became known as the Townsend Thoresen disaster.

 

On the Thai video posted on Facebook by "Priaw Priaw" and shown on Channel 3 TV a worried passenger can be heard asking a ferry employee: "Is the boat listing? How is all that water getting in?"

 

The poster commented on Facebook: "I was scared stiff when the boat started tilting. I think this was the first vessel ever used by the company. It is too old. They should not be playing with people's lives with boats like this.

 

"Please share the footage and get the authorities to act".

 

The video caused much consternation online with people saying they would be rushing to get a life jacket. Some joked if they couldn't find one they would make do with grabbing a large drum.

 

One said: "How can this happen? I wouldn't go on that ferry."

 

Channel 3 reported that staff were able to stop the entry of any more water and the ferry reached the island safely.

 

Source: CH3

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-03-02

 

[colinneil]

Share the footage and get the authorities to act.

They will only after a disaster.

Herald of free enterprise capsized because lazy buggers did not shut the bow doors quick enough.

[Deli]

Which company was it ?

[islandguy]

Looks like something was wedged into the bow doors which let water in when the bow cut into the next wave? Maybe one of those rope mates they use to make drinking over the hinge easier. Pretty scary, I would definitely be looking for a live vest.

[Lung Mike]

Especially the rust buckets of Raja Ferry are a disaster waiting to happen.

[islandguy]

13 minutes ago, islandguy said:

Looks like something was wedged into the bow doors which let water in when the bow cut into the next wave? Maybe one of those rope mates they use to make drinking over the hinge easier. Pretty scary, I would definitely be looking for a live vest.

Meant rope mats

[AhFarangJa]

2 hours ago, colinneil said:

Share the footage and get the authorities to act.

They will only after a disaster.

Herald of free enterprise capsized because lazy buggers did not shut the bow doors quick enough.

Hi Colin, while I respect a lot of, if not most of your posts, I have to correct you today. I travelled that route regularly then when working in North Holland. it was not lazy buggers, but actually a bad practice of setting sail before closing doors simply in order to cut the sailing times due to pressure from the company.. They did it going out of Sheerness too. As a boatbuilder, it always frightened me and I always sat next to an exit !!. 

[KIWIBATCH]

The Raja ferries are an accident waiting to happen.....

 

[Kabula]

Having served in the U.S. Navy for 4 years and spent 3 years in the Atlantic Ocean and the North Atlantic especially in the winter months, I'm here to say in heavy seas that is normal for a ferry.

 

 The deck has to be lower and open to accommodate loading vehicles.

 

However, the  Captain should monitor the weather prior to leaving port.   If the seas are heavy,  along with a negative weather report, they should not even leave port.   If the automobiles and trucks did not shift their parking position then there was no problem. 

 

 The very negative news could affect future business for the ferry. 

[robertson468]

Several months ago I met my Wife who was due to disembark from the the Raj Ferry.  I was horrified to see that it was listing a good 15 degrees, which could be clearly seen by looking at the comparison of the horizontal gantry on the dock to the Bridge on the Ferry.  As others have said, an accident waiting to happen and I have said that neither she, or I will ever travel that route.  Rather than complaining to the authorities, I would suggest that people stop traveling on it and once they start loosing money (the few important factors to Thai Owners) they will do something about it.

[Tchooptip]

 First a few litters are far for "inundated with water"

then harks back to "Townsend Thoresen" is not only ridiculous but such a comparison a shame for those few liters.

The company must make an investigation so that it does not happen again, yessss. 

On the other hand the thrillers fans should close their mouths.

 

 

[FredNL]

Trust us, we're Thai.. 

[Micbozy]

It's practically normal, no wolly no wolly!

[JHolmesJr]

12 posts in and no one with a thaitanic joke.

 

disappointed.

[Brigante7]

7 minutes ago, JHolmesJr said:

12 posts in and no one with a thaitanic joke.

 

disappointed.

I'm rubbish at jokes.

 

 

 

Brigante7.

[whaleboneman]

I worked on ferries all my life. While free-surface effect is a definite hazard, the amount of water shown in the video is of no consequence. What I would be more concerned about is the fact that the scuppers that should drain the water are probably plugged and the freeing ports that would open and release excess water are probably seized shut. And as a marine engineer I always pay a visit to engine rooms on all ferries I travel on and then I go sit on the outer deck near the life-jackets as the state of vessels below decks in Asia is appalling.

[Tchooptip]

7 minutes ago, whaleboneman said:

I worked on ferries all my life. While free-surface effect is a definite hazard, the amount of water shown in the video is of no consequence. What I would be more concerned about is the fact that the scuppers that should drain the water are probably plugged and the freeing ports that would open and release excess water are probably seized shut. And as a marine engineer I always pay a visit to engine rooms on all ferries I travel on and then I go sit on the outer deck near the life-jackets as the state of vessels below decks in Asia is appalling.

As an ex volonteer of the French sea rescue SNSM I made this picture on a ferry to  Samui...it seems it's in a no better state of what you saw below deck the wooden frame is broken and could cause severe cut to people 

[The Old Bull]

 Indonesian  ferries make Thai ferries look good. The one I was on had rusty hooks where the lifeboats should have been. On the bridge however was a little plastic two man dinghy. When a big wave hit it the door to the fire hose cabinate  opened and it was empty.

[Lupatria]

43 minutes ago, Tchooptip said:

As an ex volonteer of the French sea rescue SNSM I made this picture on a ferry to  Samui...it seems it's in a no better state of what you saw below deck the wooden frame is broken and could cause severe cut to people 

IF IT SINKS - WE HAVE IT!

[darren84310]

4 hours ago, Deli said:

Which company was it ?

My money is on Raja Ferry.... most of their boats were built before the Ark.

[ExpatOilWorker]

1 hour ago, JHolmesJr said:

12 posts in and no one with a thaitanic joke.

 

disappointed.

Thailand could have their own "USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage" moment in history, except of course it will be women, children, tourist and backpackers of Courage.

Edited March 2, 2017 by ExpatOilWorker

[Bsd]

2 hours ago, robertson468 said:

Several months ago I met my Wife who was due to disembark from the the Raj Ferry.  I was horrified to see that it was listing a good 15 degrees, which could be clearly seen by looking at the comparison of the horizontal gantry on the dock to the Bridge on the Ferry.  As others have said, an accident waiting to happen and I have said that neither she, or I will ever travel that route.  Rather than complaining to the authorities, I would suggest that people stop traveling on it and once they start loosing money (the few important factors to Thai Owners) they will do something about it.

I would love to but for those of us on Koh Phangan, Raja is the only choice we have to get vehicles on and off the island.  If anyone one has a couple of 100 million baht to spare on buying some decent boats I know an island full of people who would be lining up to be your customers.

[ParadiseLost]

1 hour ago, Bsd said:

I would love to but for those of us on Koh Phangan, Raja is the only choice we have to get vehicles on and off the island.  If anyone one has a couple of 100 million baht to spare on buying some decent boats I know an island full of people who would be lining up to be your customers.

Seatran ferries look much better and in my opinion belch out far less black smoke.

 

The problem with most of these companies is lack of re-investment; they rather suck out the profits and spend it on huge houses (anyone spotted the white mansion near the Lomprayah pier, Don Sak?!) and of course the latest Mercedes...

 

Songsern is another fine example, their piers in Samui/KP are a joke!

 

[Bsd]

8 hours ago, ParadiseLost said:

Seatran ferries look much better and in my opinion belch out far less black smoke.

 

The problem with most of these companies is lack of re-investment;

 

Songsern is another fine example, their piers in Samui/KP are a joke!

 

From what I have seen of the Seatran ferries while waiting in Nathon they do appear to be much better, unfortunately seatran only send their passenger ferries to KP.

 

Songserm, the blue boats are so slow and noisy; the old white boats, well I would rather swim.

 

For all of them basic maintenance seems to be a unknown term, how many ferries have broken seats , leaking roofs/windows, etc.

[Sydebolle]

I travelled quite a few times on Raja ferries in 1999/2000 and they used third hand vessels with Chinese characters (second hand) and (East-) German instructions from a VEB-shipyard in Rostock. VEB was a terminology used by the German Democratic Republic only so you can imagine that the vessel did not really undergo an improvement by the Chinese after buying said ferry from Honecker-land.

I am pretty sure they never replaced these old ferries hence if it was that ferry then the boat is 30+ years old at least; more likely though pushing 50. Given the great attention to maintenance by both the Chinese and the Thais it is - seriously - only a matter of time 

[Bsd]

3 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

I travelled quite a few times on Raja ferries in 1999/2000 and they used third hand vessels with Chinese characters (second hand) and (East-) German instructions from a VEB-shipyard in Rostock. VEB was a terminology used by the German Democratic Republic only so you can imagine that the vessel did not really undergo an improvement by the Chinese after buying said ferry from Honecker-land.

I am pretty sure they never replaced these old ferries hence if it was that ferry then the boat is 30+ years old at least; more likely though pushing 50. Given the great attention to maintenance by both the Chinese and the Thais it is - seriously - only a matter of time 

 

One of their boats still has the timetable for when it worked around Kobe stuck on a wall near one of the walkways. 

 

R10 their "brand new" boat (how they described it) has Chinese/Kanji characters written on the bow and visible in the video they made about it being new. 

[harrry]

http://www.sname.org/HigherLogic/System/DownloadDocumentFile.ashx?DocumentFileKey=bd6f5660-42f0-494a-8b9b-c793a19e7105

 

those who think the water is of no consequence should read this.