Technical divers explore the new shipwreck off Khao Lak

Khao Lak, Thailand - In August of 2009 the Mv Sea Chart 1, a bulk carrier from Thailand sank in rough waves during a the journey from Myanmar to Vietnam. The vessel was carrying 1200 tonnes of teak wood and sank during rough seas off the coast of Khao Lak. All crew and passengers were rescued and after the Thai Navy surveyed the wreck is was buoyed and opened for diving.

Last month Big Blue Tech conduced 3 days of technical diving during their “Golden Horseshoe Expedition” and found the wreck to be ideal for technical diving because of it’s size and depth.

The wreck now lies on it’s starboard side in 40m with a length of 85m. The wreck is still quite new but marine life continues to grow each day. Every dive conducted on this wreck reveals new passages, doorways and entrances with challenging penetrations and obstacles.

During the 4 technical dives we conducted more penetrations then before and secured many door which were previously locked into the open and tied off position allowing divers to safely enter these areas.

In addition to the wreck we found a “Ghost Pipe Fish” which is a rare type of fish which looks like a spiked piece of coral and always swims facing down. With Lion Fish and other venomous type things everywhere it’s important to look where you’re going at all times to avoid a nasty sting.

Below are pictures from our 2 days of diving.

For more information on the sinking look here at: “Andaman Sea storms sink Thai bulk-carrier”

A Thai bulk-carrier ship transporting millions of baht worth of teak from Burma sank in the Andaman Sea just off Phang Nga province on Sunday.

All crew on board the Chart 1 managed to escape on inflatable rafts.

Vice Admiral Narong Tesvisarn, Commander of The Third Naval Area Command in Phang Nga, received a distress call from the crew of Chart 1 just after 7am on August 23.

The distress call said the crew were in need of urgent rescue from their sinking ship.

The Thai Navy vessel Tor.214 responded and located the vessel in rough seas still afloat, approximately 5.3 nautical miles from the Phang Nga Naval Base, roughly 55km north of Phuket.

Chart 1 was in the process of transporting 1,200 teak logs in its 3,200-tonne hold from Burma to its final destination in Vietnam.

The old ship was supposed to take a well-known nautical route from Burma, heading across the Andaman Sea, down through the Straits of Malacca and then on to Vietnam.

However, the bulk-carrier encountered problems not far from Thailand’s coast, where rough seas and severe weather battered the ship, causing multiple leaks in its hull.

Water also leaked into the engine room and began to sink the vessel.

Fearing the ship would sink, the captain alerted the navy, who arrived on the scene within the hour.

By 9.30am, all crew members were safely transported via life rafts from their stricken vessel onto the Thai Navy rescue boat.

The crew comprised seven Thai nationals, including the captain, four Indonesians, and five Burmese, who looked weary and soaked as they watched their vessel sink from the safety of the navy boat.

All crew members were taken to Phang Nga Naval Hospital, most suffering from mild shock and early signs of hypothermia.

On the morning of August 23, the Southern Meteorological Center issued a weather warning for Ranong, Phang Nga, Phuket, Trang and Satun as they were expecting 35 kph winds and two-meter waves.

Chart 1 may not have received the weather report.

Following the incident, the Third Naval Area Command marked the site where the boat sank and navy divers visited the site yesterday.

Vice Admiral Narong said recovery of the vessel would have to wait for confirmation of an insurance payout for salvaging the ship.

“We are worried about the environmental implications of the sunken ship and the prospect of oil and cargo being released from it, causing problems for the environment,” he said.

The gulf of Thailand holds many treasures for technical divers, some well known and documented, others still shrouded in mystery and yet to be discovered. When it comes to wreck diving in the gulf of Thailand and nearby regions, the MV Trident is the spearhead in technical diving and ocean exploration.

Based on Koh Tao Island, The MV Trident and its crew have direct access to the post world war 2 wreck infested waters of this region and Big Blue Tech was lucky enough to join a recent expedition to the infamous Thai Navy Vessel the HTMS Pangan (His Thai Majesty Service) for 3 days of technical diving.
A large military vessel, the HTMS Pangan was built in 1927. Weighing 2000 tons with a crew of 81, the doomed vessel sank at 10pm on July 19th 1961, apparentely due to a storm. It is argued that no such storm with enough power to sink a vessel of this size could have possible existed at that time of year, and other theories surfaced with time as signs of a large fire were discovered close to the wheel house. This theory was further exacerbated by the fact it was carrying old (unstable) ammunition with the mission of dumping it at sea. All the crew were rescued by a Japanese freighter the Ms Daisei.

This trip comprised of a group of technical divers from various dive schools from around Koh Tao, including Brian Wilcox and Christos Kardana who both completed their TDI Extended Range course conducted by James Thornton-Allan at Big Blue Tech. Putting their new found diving skills and knowledge to the test, the 3 day expedition would prove challenging and yet enlightening with respect to technical dive exposure within deep sea wreck environments.
Christos who is already a certified technical diver and was part of the June expedition when a sunken temple was discovered in Khao Sok National Park joined the trip as a Technical Underwater Videographer.

The MV Trident boat is not your normal livebaord-which is fitting because this is not your normal diving- and with that in mind the most important items were fully stocked; diesel, fresh water, oxygen and beer!.

With the ceremonial fireworks offered to Buddha to grace us with good seas and great diving, the typical goodbyes ensued to wives, girlfriends and friends as we started our overnight journey to the dive site which is about 50 nautical miles north-east of Koh Tao Island. The dive site is out of mobile phone range so it would be the last contact with the outside world for 3 days. There is a satellite phone on board afcurse, but its for emergency use only.

Isolated from the rest of the world, the divers on board could focus on setting up their gear, analyzing their gas, planning their dives and for some people packing there closed circuit rebreather. Making sure everything was sorted the night before meant you could wake up and just jump straight into the water…perfect
The Trident locates the dive site by means of GPS and Underwater Sonar. A diver is sent down using a shot line and anchor line to tie the vessel directly to the wreck making it easy for the divers to get on to the wreck with very little effort. Decompression is also made effortless with the decompression station; a trapeze structure suspended below the Mv Trident with 4 surface supplied oxygen regulators. This allows the divers to keep their bailout oxygen for the unlikely event they loose the wreck or get blown off the deco station if the weather was to turn.

The wreck is lying on it’s port side with many areas for penetration and exploration. Over the years of diving the wreck has been shifting and changing to the effect that the stress of the collapse has thrown objects out of the wreck and into the sand. Such objects like portholes and brass pieces have been recovered and stored for preservation leaving many intact and in place objects still to be seen. Our first dive here 3 years ago had divers exploring the wheel house which is now not possible as the structure is weak and collapsing. However there is still many areas to explore providing the diver has the training and experience to wiggle into the spaces.

Like many wrecks in this area, the corridors and doorways are smaller than expected. For many western divers this is a challenge as the ships are built in Asia for Asian men. You only need to look at a Japanese sailor and then an American sailor to see the difference. American and British vessels have typically larger spaces and doorways and are easier to get around. Thankfully this wreck has many openings and exits so if you do find yourself wedged in a room and unable to go back the way you came you just have to swim out through the deck.

The first dives of the trip were a real eye opener for many. For Brian “I don’t get Narked” Wilcox it was his first sense of narcosis and for Christos “I check everything” Kardana this was a great illustration of what happens to expensive video mounted underwater torches when you leave the caps out. Oh dear; no longer torches but expensive water holders. If you watch the video in future and wonder why some parts are dark then that’s why.

The most aggressive dive of the trip was a thirty (30) minute bottom time at sixty (60) meters one hundred ninety eight (198) feet. Below is a sample of that dive and what our decompression obligation looked like.
Descend to 60 for 3.0 (3.0) using 21/0/79
Level at 60 for 27.0 (30.0) using 21/0/79
Stop at 36 for 1 (33.0) using 21/0/79
Stop at 33 for 2 (35.0) using 36/0/64
Stop at 30 for 2 (37.0) using 36/0/64
Stop at 27 for 2 (39.0) using 36/0/64
Stop at 24 for 2 (41.0) using 36/0/64
Stop at 21 for 4 (45.0) using 36/0/64
Stop at 18 for 4 (49.0) using 36/0/64
Stop at 15 for 6 (55.0) using 36/0/64
Stop at 12 for 9 (64.0) using 36/0/64
Stop at 9 for 12 (76.0) using 36/0/64
Stop at 6 for 26 (102.0) using 100/0/0
*Simulated Profile, Do Not Use!

As the dives continued Brian was exposed to more challenges including wreck penetration and recovery skills. Brian was skeptical at first with regardS to penetrating the wreck but once inside he was impossible to get out; the true calling for a wreck diver.

During these dives Christos continued to film above and below the ocean and is in the process of putting together a video of this trip and the HTMS Pangan.

Once again it was a perfect trip with great sun, good times and narcosis induced diving, all with thanks to the MV Trident and its crew.

Written By James Thornton-Allan (Instructor) and Hannah Lusby (Diver)

James:
I was woken periodically throughout the night. At 5 the boat started rocking, at 5:30 I could hear the rain hitting the hull, at 6 I could smell diesel and then knew we we’re going to have a challenging day of diving.
In the hull I couldn’t tell how bad the weather was until I came up into the dry room and everyone was hiding from the wind, 2 meter swells and sideways rain. Even getting a coffee was a mad dash topside and trying to stir a cup faster then I was getting wet.
Looking at the ships radar the storm surrounded the Trident and didn’t appear to moving in any specific direction. Perhaps this would be the end of the trip, when does safety override the completion of the diving?
No one wanted to go diving, in fact I think many felt robbed because they were even out of bed. In true tech form, after breakfast and a few cups of tea, a movie with Keanu Reeves about being a good cop or perhaps a bad cop with a terrible ending , everyone was rearing to go. The rain had subsided and the waves slowed down and it was off in groups of 4, down to the wreck below.
Surprisingly the visibility was good, the sea below the surface was calm. No current and if you hadn’t been topside before you wouldn’t even know there was a small storm. We we’re hoping to circle the wreck along the sand at about 60 meters. We didn’t get very far around it. We checked out the props and the stern area but got consumed with the radio found outside the wheel house. It was written in English which leads me to believe the Thai Navy probably had problems operating it, perhaps that’s why it went down with very little information, the poor operator couldn’t tell which one was the on button.
All the deco was done but getting back on to the boat was another thing entirely. The waves were making the trident jump like a bucking bull. The dive deck was rising and falling about 2 meters, crashing into the sea and throwing any unsuspecting diver back into the rough waters. With careful coordination and timing we all got back on board safely. There was no handing up fins or passing up gear, fins were looped onto our wrists and once we got on the ladder we got up as fast as possible with all 4 cylinders on. Hannah unfortunately broke a nail, not joking, she actually broke a nail while wearing gloves, but she learned a very good bit of experience and training that good conditions wouldn’t of taught her. Happy to be back on the boat and happy to be out of the rain. The TV was fired up and House put on. Let’s hope the afternoon pans out to be calmer.

Hannah:
When we woke this morning it really was Blackpool weather! Wind and rain going sideways, everyone walking in the drunken, sea legs kind of way. Diving started a little later today so we could see what the weather would do, so after a somewhat lazy start of bacon sandwiches, porridge, mugs of tea and a movie, everyone was ready to get wet. On the surface the waves were still coming in strong. Sea legs are useful things to have; especially when geared up, you want to be quick and well timed, waddle like a penguin and get the hell in the water. No time to natter on the surface, just in and down. Once under, there was no current and the visibility was far better than expected. We were taking in the full tour this time; our bottom time was 25 minutes, which got eaten up a bit by a radio we found on the sand, something to go back for on the next dive! Although 25 mins seems like a long time it’s amazing how quickly the time goes, the shear size of the wreck, and the constant preoccupation of finding something and trying to prize it free soon eats up your time.
Deco in this weather is a little less relaxing, the line is going up and down, and you can feel like being on some sort of fairground ride, but once you’ve found your place you can just relax into it and the minutes tick by.
On the surface, it’s all a timing game to get back onto the boat, as the back deck rises up and crashes down in front of you. There’s one thing getting up a ladder in rough seas with one tank on, but quiet another with 4 tanks on! Having first tried and failed to time the waves right I was pushed back out to sea, but no problem for Trident, Stew jumped in and gave me a hand to the ladder (thank you very much Stew!), then it’s a one, two, three and up and out I come – breaking a nail in the process. What a girl!!! Oh and then punching James in the face! (This was an accident!)
Then it’s back to the usual routine on board, people find places to lie down and sleep or watch back-to-back episodes of House or Prison Break. Lunch is served, which gives the eyes a break from the TV, then back to lounging position for an hour or so until your slot comes along. Then its’ off to get some loot!

James:
The waves have calmed down a lot, the clouds are breaking and the waves are settling down. The plan was to do a lesser bottom time but Hannah’s gas consumption was so good we extended it to 25 minutes rather then 20 minutes. We had two missions: recover a brass pressure gauge from the boiler room and recover a radio box from the sand. Hopefully we could get both done but not a concern if we ran short on time. We had some sort of curry slash chicken soup thing for lunch which was filling and tasted good but could have been a bit more variety. After which we jumped in and headed down to the wreck. The first mission was to recover a pressure gauge from the engine/boiler room. Hopefully the pressure gauge needle would be fixed giving us a greater indication of how it sank. As I entered I could see the gauge from a great distance reading zero. With not educational value we left that in place and exited the engine room. Arriving an the radio the idea was to see what channel or frequency the radio was tuned into and recover the whole item. Unfortunately the radio was very heavy and required some greater planning to recover it. This planning needed to be done topside so we went on an exploration of the wheel house. Hannah caught the sight of a sink, a very old style sink with beautiful brass taps. This sink is not attached to anything but is in a difficult area to penetrate. We decided we would discuss this option topside as well. The dive ended with a small penetration in the hull of the vessel giving Hannah even more time to explore the levels of the massive wreck. However our time was cut short and it was time to make our way back up with a total elapsed bottom time of 25 minutes. After all decompression was done we surfaced to be greeted by blue skies, finally. This meant there was a slim, a very slim chance we might be visiting the pottery wreck which would be done live (shot line only) so the weather needed to be decent at least.
Back on board it was shower and dinner time, everyone chatting about the various recovered items from below and then the Trident slipped into a quiet hum with just the generators grumbling and paper pages turning.
Off to bed early, tomorrow is early again with getting up at 7. We want to be done diving and on our way before lunch so we can either get back to land on time or so we can get to the pottery wreck on time. My hope is for a final dive on the pottery wreck but it’s not worth it at the cost of safety in bad weather.