Wrecks
WRECK DIVING ASIA!
Koh Tao offers about 25 divesites in close proximity to the island. They feature mostly rock formations and pinnacles, as well as shallow reefs and coral gardens. lots of grey reef sharks. Whalesharks are regular visitors. Maximum depth 45 metres.
We visit some of these sites during the beginning stages of tec courses, but the reason we dive are some of the best wrecks in Asia
We have found dozens in the gulf and continue to so, here’s a small selection of what we can offer. Not every wreck is worth returning to, we’ve listed some of those on our ‘Rubbish Wrecks’ page.
There’s a few of our wrecks listed below on the ‘Divers’Trip Report’ page too
Torpedo Wreck
The Torpedo Wreck is a 50 meter local cargo ship carrying timber logs sitting upright about 2 hours north from Koh Tao. Maximum depth 55 metres.
Hishidaiya Maru or ‘Unicorn’ Wreck
The Unicorn Wreck is a 55 meter Japanese refrigerated cargo vessel sitting nearly upright only 30mins north of Koh Tao. The top of the bow is at 37 meters, maximum depth 50 metres. Perfect for experienced recreational divers or a tec day trip.
The Unicorn arrived at Koh Tao in 1989, anchored for a few days and then suddenly sunk. An insurance claim for canned tuna was made,but when a team of divers dived the wreck they found animal feed. We called her the Unicorn for years but recently discovered some medical items marked HishiDaiya Maru
USS Lagarto - rediscovered 19-05-2005
The USS Lagarto is a Balao class fleet submarine sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy minelayer HATSUTAKA, on May 4 1945 with all 86 hands lost.
The Lagarto weighs 1500tons and 105m long, she sits upright in 72m, and is fully intact, a demanding dive.
The submarine is a restricted war grave and is being treated with the utmost respect she deserves. She is currently being researched and documented by our team with the permission of the US Navy’s Naval Historical Center. The exact location of the Lagarto remains a closely guarded secret.For a full history visit www.usslagarto.org .
Big Boy - rediscovered 19-02-2006
Originally thought to be WW2 Japanese Passenger/Cargo vessel , she lies upright in 68m,top of the wreck is 54m, quite a large one, weighing about 3,500 tons.
After research, at the bar with a local fisherman, we have discovered that this vessel was hit by another freighter in the 1950’s. The offending vessel returned to pick up survivors. She was carrying a cargo of Dutch ceramics from Singapore to Bangkok.
“Solimoes” - rediscovered 28-07-2005
This huge wreck lies on her starboard side in 58m. The top of the wreck is at 40 m, length is 150m, tonnage is 10,000 tons. She has had some damage starboard aft. There is a lot of machinery, steam engines, cranes,augers and some evidence of fire in the forward hold.
This a huge wreck and will take a longtime to fully explore.Great penetrations.
Built in Rio De Janeiro in the seventies, lost sometime in the nineties but had us fooled for a while because of the amount of coral on the hull,probably the currents here are just right for the soft corals.
HTMS Pangan - rediscovered 15/08/05
A Royal Thai Navy wreck , bult in Japan before WW2. Carrying ammunition and gunpowder for disposal, she reportedy sunk in a storm in 1961. Fire damage on the superstructiure indicates a fire, however. There was no loss of life
This wreck is about 60 nautical miles from Koh Tao, an easy 6 hour run. She lies on her port side in 60 metres of clear water, the top of the wreck is at 48m. Length is about 60m, beam 10m, weight approx 3000 tons. This wreck is very well appointed, twin screws, lots of portholes, telegraphs and deck machinery. My favourite Gulf of Thailand dive so far - until we found the Tottori!
Wankey Tankey- rediscovered 22/10/05
This wreck lies close to the Pangan. She is a 60m, 2500 ton post war Japanese oil tanker sitting upright in 60m. There is no apparent damage except for a split in the bow below the waterline.
Akita Maru ( no positive ID as yet) but don’t think so!
Sunk by Dutch submarine O-19 in January 1942, she sits upright in 78m. a large 3,900 ton Maru, we have only dived her once to date. A ‘nearly’ virgin.This one is the right size and roughly in the correct place but no sign of any ordnance or Japanese. When another Akita turns up, we’ll know!
Pornsri - re-discovered 11 feb 2007
A 6000ton freighter sunk between 1983-1993. 68m to the bottom, 52m to top, she lies on her port side. although she sank recently she’s an old ship with lots of goodies. Great vis and not many fish in the way yet. Lots of penetration
Vlado - rediscovered 13th Feb 2007
Even bigger than the Pornsri,she lies on her starboard side in slightly shallower water. a pre-war ship, sunk in the 1960’s so much more marine life.
A very old classic twin superstructured freighter,the owners couldn’t have been too surprised when this one sank. lots to explore.
Seacrest Drillship (pic above)
Re-discovered, 16/03/07, then again 22/03/08, oops.
Rig: |
Seacrest Drillship |
Date: |
03 November 1989 |
Location: |
Platong Gas Field, Gulf of Thailand |
Operator: |
Unocal |
Fatalities: |
97 |
Summary
Details of the Seacrest capsize tragedy are sketchy. Newspaper reports state that 97 crew were working aboard the 4400-tonne Unocal-owned drillship in the South China Sea, around 430 kilometres south of Bangkok, when it capsized in heavy seas caused by Typhoon Gay.
The ship was reported missing on Saturday, 4 November 1989 and a search helicopter located the Seacrest floating upside-down 0815 local time on Sunday, 5 November 1989. Two rescue crew were landed on the up-turned hull of the ship to check for survivors. They tapped on the hull in the hope that some crew may have survived in an airpocket inside the ship, but received no reponse. Over the following days, Thai Navy divers searched the ship and found two bodies in the hull.
Newspapers reported a total of 97 crew on board the Seacrest: 64 Thais, seven Americans, four Australians, four Britons, three Canadians, two Danes, two Filipinos, one Italian, one New Zealander, eight Singaporeans and one West German. Another report states that there were 91 fatalities with 2 survivors.
The drillship is also mentioned briefly in a US Navy document discussing Typhoon Gay, where it is noted that the eye appeared to have passed over the Seacrest, after which heavy seas caused the ship to capsize. Other reports state that the Seacrest had a derrick full of pipe when storm hit, with a high centre of gravity contributing to the accident.
The dives
We’ve found two wrecks that match the picture above;
the first one is 100nm miles south of her reported position, but we thought with a northerly gale raging she could have drifted there. This one’s very shallow, 48m to the sand, 38m to the top of the wreck. She lies in clear water too,you can see the wreck from the surface. She lies on her port side, the derrick and wheelhouse are missing but we have a few marks close by. No moon pool for the drill.
A great dive to warm up on before the deeper wrecks in this area
The second Seacrest is probably the real one, she lies closer to the reported sinking, she has a derrick, and moon pool. We were told by Fred Evans , who removed the bodies from the wreck , that she was upside down, and this one is.
She lies in 72m, top of the wreck, and the moon pool is at 50m, a great penetration dive- you can spend the whole dive inside the hull and pretend you’re in the Psoieden Adventure
Tottori Maru - rediscovered 4/4/07
A 5,900 ton . 423 ft x 53ft passenger/cargo vessel, built in Glasgow in the 1890’s and sunk by USS Hammerhead in 1945.
Used by the Japanese to transport POW’s and known as a ‘Hellship’. She now lies on her starboard side in 73m of clear water, huge torpedo damage in the bow. Lots of brass, ceramics ,ammunition scattered around the wreck.
Sakura Maru -rediscovered 6/4/07
Another one of Hammerhead’s 1945 victims, a 1500 ton bulk carrier sitting upright in 70m, again torpedoed in the bow.
Nanmei No 5 Maru- rediscovered 7/4/07
Yet another one of Hammerhead’s, sunk at the same time as Sakura, also with a shot in the bow .A small tanker upright in 70m.
These three marus are very close together,a perfect 6 day liveaboard with minimal travelling once we’re there
Steel Trawler - rediscovered 8/4/07
A large trawler sunk in Tropical Storm Muay Fah in 2004. Very modern, micowaves, radar, freezers,a bit of fun.
Akela - rediscovered 5/4/08
A 3000 ton Dutch post war freighter siting upright, collision damage on the starboard
SS Carrie - rediscovered 10/04/08
Nicknamed after Carrie Kohler, this is a 6000 ton post- war freighter, probably Japanese or Chinese. 5 levels of penetration if you’re up for it!
Araosan Maru -Rediscovered 16/02/09
A huge maru ,our biggest at 7000 tons, sunk by US Hardhead. She lies in 55m in Cambodian waters, pretty broken up by three torpedoes and Japanese crappy wartime materials.
Unidentified Marus
The Gulf of Thailand was heavily patrolled by US submarines, in 1945 they sank dozens of ‘marus’ - japanese freighters and tankers carrying everything from supplies to POW’s. Using the submarines’ logs as a starting point each of our expeditions will include exploratory dives with the chance of diving virgin WW2 wrecks.
