Yacht Warning – Chalong Bay, Thailand

by Bob Mott/Phuket Post/Sail-World on 16 May 2006 Yachties in the area please be aware - A motor-yacht with a draft of only 2.13metres has hit an unmarked submerged object in popular Chalong Bay in Phuket. The boat was near to sinking as a result, but was helped into safety by the Phuket Marine Police. Investigations have started...

The rock or submerged vessel has been reported to be sitting 5.6NM from Rawai Beach and 2.43NM from the northern tip of Koh Bon. The coordinates are 07 45 956 north, 19 870 east. However, this position should not be taken as accurate until confirmed by authorities.

Phuket Marine Office is to send out a team to survey the area and mark the hazard on local charts. Bob Mott of the Phuket Post first reported on the dangerous obstruction in the Rawai channel several months back after another 20-metre aluminium yacht, Orion, hit the same hazard – believed to be a large rock or possible sunken vessel – in early January. It was Bobby Gifford, of that yacht, who has supplied the coordinates printed above to the Phuket Post, who kindly supplied them to us.

Other incidents involving the obstruction have also occurred in recent months, and – although Taipan V required the assistance of the Marine Police to get back to safety – PMO chief Surin Thirakulpisut claimed to have received no reports of the hazard, but planned to have his team investigate the site and mark it on all new navigation charts. He also urged anyone who knows of other unmapped or un-marked obstructions in Phuket’s waters to report them to his office. 'My officers are currently inspecting the shipwrecks at the deep sea port to guide big vessels safely around them,' he told Phuket Post.

Taipan IV, with a draft of just over two metres, hit the unmarked hazard while cruising into the bay to re-fuel. 'The navigation charts showed everything was OK. The water was five-metres deep but for some reasons the vessel went onto something that is not marked or shown on any on the chart,' Kerry Sugden, Executive Vice President of Taipan Co Ltd, told the Post. The motor yacht is currently on the hardstand at Rattanachai Shipyard receiving emergency repairs and Mr Sugden expects the boat to be back in the water before the end of July. 'The Phuket Marine Police who did a great job. They helped us take the vessel to Rattanachai Shipyard,' Mr Sugden added.

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