Our last long range tech diving trip of 2009 was to HTMS Pangan, then further north to the deeper wrecks of 'Pornsri' and Vlado.

Some of the divers were finishing their DSAT Tec Deep training and then continuing to Tec Trimix. A couple more were working towards their Tec Instructor rating, plus there were a few divers joining the tech trip to simply enjoy some great wreck diving.

All of us were instructors with lots of diving experience, including 3 PADI course directors, so along with a good weather forecast I was  looking forward to a good trip.

Our technical diving trip left at sunset in great weather and we arrived at the HTMS Pangan well before dawn. The shot went in as day broke and we tied on amidships. The Pangan is a Thai military vessel, built in Japan in 1937, lost in a storm in 1961. She lies on her port side in 60m.

Tim and Ivan successfully completed their DSAT Tec Deep Course of the first day - the diving was easy compared to their previous training dives on the Unicorn wreck near Koh Tao, and we enjoyed excellent visibility and no current. The next day we dived the Pangan again, the two student tech divers on a Normoxic Trimix blend.

We then traveled overnight to the wreck we've nick-named the Pornsri.

This is a huge postwar freighter, at least 130m long and 5000 tons. She's a recent wreck, lots of fish but no coral yet. Today the visibility was excellent, clear water all the way to the bottom at 70m. We still haven't got a positive ID so the mission was to find a name. The divers went off to the bow, Andy, deep air diving thought he saw a name but that was easily spotted as a few welds by the trimix divers. We stayed another day and the superstructure was explored for the first time time, but still no positive identification.

Our third and final dive site on the expedition was the wreck of the Vlado, another very big wreck, superstructures amidships and aft. She 's an old vessel which sunk post war. A real ship wreck, one of my favorites. She lies on her starboard side in 68m, and less than 50m to the top. We've been here a few times before but still have a lot to explore.

The weather stayed good all through the trip, with a slightly bumpy 14hr run back into Koh Tao, arriving in time for a Safety Stop breakfast. Tim D started his journey back to his glamorous job teaching diving on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, Tim K to continue his retirement on Koh Samui, Andy back to Bangkok to make even more millions on the stock market. And the rest of us, back to work on Koh Tao!

The next long range trip will be in late Feb, suggestions welcome

Our first charter with Submerged Productions from Belgium got off to a slow start due to passports, airports and luggage handling, we dived the Akela, then continued eastwards into Cambodian/Vietnamese waters to search for the Araosan Maru.

The first mark 5 miles from the US submarine’s numbers produced nothing, but after radioing local fishermen , we got another mark, one digit out and got a good return on the sounder.

The wreck was the Araosan Maru, easily recognised by the shape of the stern and her size, 7000 tons. USS Hardhead put three torpedoes into her midships so she’s very broken up and twisted.It’s also obvious that  Japanese wartime materials and construction methods weren’t very good, she’s a mess! She lies mainly on her port side in 55m, less than 40m to the top of the wreck.

On the way back to Samui we dived the Tottori Maru, built in good old Scotland 30 years before Araosan, she’s in much better condition,despite Hammerhead’s torpedoes.

Here’s a video that has the Akela last year,

http://vimeo.com/2451767

In mid-March we took Richie Kohler and Co. again for a 7 day charter to look for Akita and Tairyu Marus, 4000 and 5000 tons, sunk by Dutch Sub 0-19in 1942.

After diving the Solimoes for a shake down dive we dived the first of our unknown marks . The wreck was a large freighter,sitting upright and with everything intact, but she wasn’t a WW2, so they’re still out there.

We stopped off at the Tottori Maru on the way home to make sure we had a little WW2 history and then one more unknown mark which turned out to be a large steel trawler - you can’t win them all, I suppose.Here’s a  Full trip report

http://www.richiekohler.com/trip_report_thailand2009.htm

Next confirmed long range trip is leaving 18/05, diving USS Lagarto, Tottori and new Marus, this time please. Places available.

This trip was a good one, by popular decision known wrecks were passed by and we looked at new marks, the first few were rubbish and then we found Kinrei Maru upright but severlely torpedoed in 80m, our deepest wreck yet.

Next was the USS Lagarto for Memorial Day. We attached a new flag and cleared the wreck a little more. Always an honour to dive this wreck

The next day we travelled further south nearly into Malay/Vietnamese waters and found the Tairyu Maru, a 5000 ton NYK line passeger cargo ship sunk by Dutch sub 0-19.

This is a great dive , max depth 60m , top of the wreck less than 50m. She sits upright, huge torpedo damage amidships on the port side. The O-19 fired three torpedoes at the Akita Maru, two hit but one missed and hit the Tairyu.

On the way home we stopped at the Tottori Maru for a day’s diving and then back to Samui.

Here’s a link to a trip report from one of our divers.

http://www.rebreatherworld.com/trip-reports/27385-2009-gulf-thailand-virgin-wreck-expedition.html

We’re still looking for the Akita, she must be close by.

Next long range trip is leaving July 17th

Let us know when you’re free for a trip and we can normally put a trip together with our regulars.

This year our first Lagarto trip fell on Memorial Day .

Conditions were perfect, clear water , no current, no waves.

We attached a new US flag to the periscope shears and removed some of teh smaller nets that have drifted on to the bow over the last year.

Next trip will being July this year, along with some Japanese wrecks

Our first crew were from New Jersey - used to diving cold water and strong currents so Thailand was going be  easy for them.

We started with a wreck we knew, the Nanmei No5 Maru and then moved on to a mark we hoped was going to be the Araosan Maru. We found a large freighter sitting upright but she was a bit too new to be a WW2 maru.

Dan Bartone, skipper of Independence II, an Atlantic wreck diving boat, lifted the telegraph which after cleaning revealed it was made in a Dutch yard in the 1950’s. Evan , Deep Sea Detective cameraman,found the bell marked ‘Akela’ - his first.

Further research has revealed she was built in Holand in 1954 and sunk in 1984. See picture above

After 4 dives on the Akela ,pictured above, we moved on to one of our favourite wrecks , the Tottori Maru for 4 more dives and one more telegraph,  and then back overnight to Samui.

Two days later we picked up our second charter, a group of divers mostly from the Great Lakes, and Alberto- all the way from Mexico.

After an overnight steam we arrived at our newly found Seacrest wreck, and tied into the moon pool at 50m an easy entry in to the wreck. After only one dive on a ‘nearly virgin ‘ wreck, the group decided to gamble and try a new mark 50nm futher east - a ‘real virgin’, but a good chance of missing a lot of dives if it turned out to be nothing.

This mark was nearer to the Hardhead’s position of Araosan Maru, the farthest we’ve been east and the first time into Cambodian waters.

We arrived at 8pm and after a brief search hit a large target on the sounder. First  thing in the morning we tied onto a huge upright  freighter, wheelhouse amidships, five levels of accommodation, telegraph, helm all in place - but again, post war, very post war, less than 20 years in the water- hardly an historical find.

We have no ID for this one so we’re going to call her SS Carrie, after Carrie Kohler . Yet another telegraph told us this was an Asian vessel, I think made in Japan, operated by Taiwan or Hong Kong.

After two days here we dropped into see the Tottori Maru again and had some great dives. Richie and Evan made a positive ID of the Tottori by finding the name on the bow.On the last day we were visited by a very friendly whale shark to help break up the deco - a first for the Great Lakes lads.

In total we completed 260 deco dives, all 70m plus, mostly CCR. We steamed 560nmiles, breathed 90,000L of Helium, 120,000L of Oxygen, used 200K of sorb and drank 40 cases of Heineken.

comments:

ravenmouth | April 22nd, 2008 | 12:43 am

Yes the way to go !

Was a great trip !

fatbloke | April 24th, 2008 | 9:02 pm

So Jamie and Stewart are now off to Nakon nowhere to source fake bells and scatter them around all the wrecks they have found……….

Only 40 cases of beer over two trips…. lightweights!

jamie | April 25th, 2008 | 10:38 pm

americans, need i say more?

Camille | September 14th, 2008 | 1:51 am

Good stuff Jamie!

Capt.Dan | December 15th, 2008 | 9:26 pm

Have you seen any BILL FISH on the wreck lately

CAPTAIN DAN