HTMS Sukhothai

[tamada]

I'm a bit surprised there is not more and constant coverage in the English media.

Yeah, I caught it on the Beeb but last report was 21 hours ago,

In the English-language Thai media? Lack of information across the board would be my guess. Police and army choppers fall out of the sky here regularly and the authorities are tight-lipped. Nobody reports on any investigation or follow up. If the local media can't get any more information, there's likely to be little effort for foreign media to pursue it.

Ships of all sorts have accidents, run aground, catch fire or blow up daily. It's all in the maritime media but it doesn't get much beyond that unless it blocks the Suez Canal or a US Pacific Fleet boat is involved. They quite recently had a destroyer run aground off the Philippines. It was so badly damaged, it was written off and salvaged in bits. Didn't get much media coverage though. Of course when there's loss of life, it can become more visible.

[Earnest]

Sure, I understand something similar occurred on the Endurance when they had a maintenance issue and it nearly sank. That said, it would be big news in Blighty if we lost a minesweeper in similar circumstances with the comparable number of crew missing. I think last night was the 40th anniversary of a Felixstowe ferry keeling over after hitting another ship.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... urance.pdf

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-63944202

[Bandung_Dero]

The navy confirmed that the ship had enough life jackets.

Purely speculation:-
I'll bet the captain survived!
An old ship, poorly maintained.
(Saving their money for the Chinese subs minus engines)
Out of date safety equipment with life jackets as old as the ship.
(Saving their money for 2 x F35 aircraft)
Under trained crew with piss pore supervision.
And on and on.
The real world must be laughing their sox off.

RIP to those poor victims of this calamity!

[tamada]

The navy confirmed that the ship had enough life jackets.

Purely speculation:-
I'll bet the captain survived!
An old ship, poorly maintained.
(Saving their money for the Chinese subs minus engines)
Out of date safety equipment with life jackets as old as the ship.
(Saving their money for 2 x F35 aircraft)
Under trained crew with piss pore supervision.
And on and on.
The real world must be laughing their sox off.

RIP to those poor victims of this calamity!

We know and expect they'll get all defensive and clam up. One of their top brass has already gone on the record saying the Captain took all appropriate measures because the Captain told him he did. Not very professional but we must remember we're talking about an important component of Thailand's national security here so no criticism is allowed.

When the USN Bonhomme burned almost to the waterline over 10 days in San Diego, there were no public statements of proper or improper behavior until after the investigation. That was ultimately blamed on the pyromania of a "disgruntled employee" rather than the haphazard and disorganized management of people, equipment, material and fire control on a vessel undergoing a major refit with dozens of civilian contractors onboard that allowed him to keep trying to set things on fire. The proverbial accident waiting to happen.

Having spent a fair bit of time on boats in lumpy weather, this catastrophic internal flooding that caused the power outage and listing could only have been enabled by watertight doors not being watertight. The most common cause of this defect is them either being left open or being incapable of being closed due to obstructions or paint jobs. The worst case I saw was a crew boat I inspected in Nigeria where the owner had removed most all of the internal watertight doors because "they never get used" and were worth a thousand bucks a pop on the market.

[mak]

It was also revealed this morning by a spokesperson for the Navy that there were weren’t sufficient life vests available for all crew on the ill fated vessel.
In contrast to earlier reports, he admitted that there were not enough life vests on board… “but the Styrofoam boxes containing the life vests could be used as floatation devices”.

[Khun Paul]

Well RIP to he deceased which may or may not be caused by poor seamanship and even worse command, we will never know and probably never will.
As previously stated an admission that a NAVAL ship was NOT properly equipped but that styrofoam boxes can act as a substitute is a comment worth a Tom and Jerry cartoon story .
Life jackets are designed to support a person even if they are unable to control themselves. A BOX of any description must be held by a conscious person, if unconscious you die. That is simple and for an Admiral in the Thai Navy to suggest otherwise show a complete disregard for his sailors.

[glalt]

I attribute this disaster to poor training. War ships in particular have compartments separated with water tight doors. Those doors obviously were not closed and locked. One or more compartments can be flooded and the ship will remain afloat. Heads will roll before this is over and forgotten.

[Khun Paul]

I attribute this disaster to poor training. War ships in particular have compartments separated with water tight doors. Those doors obviously were not closed and locked. One or more compartments can be flooded and the ship will remain afloat. Heads will roll before this is over and forgotten.

Nah the fallout will be lost in the mayhem of News Years festivities I suspect , Monies paid as is customary and the resultant punishment IF ANY will be under the cloak of security of the nation, therefore not for general consumption.

[Earnest]

Bleak. Hopefully, they will also be looking at ensuring this kind of incident wouldn't happen again, sir.

[Khun Paul]

It would appear according to one news source that there was a large crack in the bow section, however in truth , we will never know the full reason until they recover this boat from its watery grave.

[mak]

Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Navy Choengchai Chomchoengphaet confessed yesterday that “there weren’t enough life jackets on board” the HTMS Sukhothai when it plunged to the bottom of the sea on Sunday night.
The navy chief said that 30 sailors out of the whole crew were left without life jackets when the vessel sank.
Out of the 75 people initially rescued, 18 were not wearing life jackets, said the navy chief.
Meaning, of the 23 sailors still lost at sea, 12 are not wearing life jackets.
Admiral Choengchai said that “a life jacket does not guarantee survival.” He said tha
t he did not think all 30 sailors missing life jackets would die. All of the crew are trained in survival skills, he added.
The most important survival skill for those lost at sea is not being a good swimmer, but energy conservation, said the navy chief.
And this guy is still Navy Chief. Where do they get these people.

[Khun Paul]

Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Navy Choengchai Chomchoengphaet confessed yesterday that “there weren’t enough life jackets on board” the HTMS Sukhothai when it plunged to the bottom of the sea on Sunday night.
The navy chief said that 30 sailors out of the whole crew were left without life jackets when the vessel sank.
Out of the 75 people initially rescued, 18 were not wearing life jackets, said the navy chief.
Meaning, of the 23 sailors still lost at sea, 12 are not wearing life jackets.
Admiral Choengchai said that “a life jacket does not guarantee survival.” He said tha
t he did not think all 30 sailors missing life jackets would die. All of the crew are trained in survival skills, he added.
The most important survival skill for those lost at sea is not being a good swimmer, but energy conservation, said the navy chief.
And this guy is still Navy Chief. Where do they get these people.

They get these people same way they get Police chiefs, from people with Deep pockets. anecdotal evidence some Thai Officers wnt to jms dolphin years ago to do the submarine/Diving course. All failed , but they still stayed in charger of their respective commands. Says it all really. ( heard that in the Wardroom of HMS Raleigh years ago )

[mak]

A FORMER NAVY officer said today (Dec. 21) that a fellow sailor who survived the sinking of HTMS 442 Sukhothai told him that the front left hull of the warship was cracked and that is why seawater gushed in, Sanook.com said.

[pipoz4444]

A FORMER NAVY officer said today (Dec. 21) that a fellow sailor who survived the sinking of HTMS 442 Sukhothai told him that the front left hull of the warship was cracked and that is why seawater gushed in, Sanook.com said.

Launched 20 July 1986, commissioned on 10 June 1987 and sank on 18 December 2022, just 36 years old

Laid down in Tacoma, Washington, United States

Front Hull cracks after just 36 years and it hasn't been to war as far as I know?

You have to ask why, as it can't really be attributed to maintenance

pipoz4444

[jackspratt]

You have to ask why, as it can't really be attributed to maintenance

Can it be attributed to speculation?

"Front left hull" doesn't sound like anything you would hear from anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with things maritime.

[noosard]

Try the translation

[jackspratt]

Try the translation

Happy to - translation from what?

[tamada]

If the media had reported a hull breach on the port bow quarter, would anyone be less bamboozled?

Thirty-six years is quite old in boat years. Commercial and other non-military vessels start their major recertifications at 10 years to stay "in Class". This includes the hull. In my area of nautical experience, the 20-year recertification is usually cost-prohibitive unless you start cutting corners or agree to accept operational limitations that come from legal Class exclusions or extensions. I am sure naval vessels also have to be recertified by some internal process of inspection and testing but if the local annual vehicle inspections are any sort of metric, Thailand's navy may be less rigorous.

[Khun Paul]

All suppositions as to the cause of this 36 year old boat sinking will I am sure never be made freely available. I have been advised by those that spent most of their adult lives in the RN , GOOD SEAMANSHIP is the key to keeping any boat afloat, no matter the damage, unless the bloody thing blew up .
Considering the ability of boats with CLOSED UP watertight doors CAN SUSTAIN A LOT OF DAMAGE AND STIL MASNAGE TO REMAIN AFLOAT , until assistance arrives. it would seem that procedures normally followed in rough seas was NOT followed and hence a rapid flooding seems likely, but I am sure the RTN will never admit that .

I remember following the Falklands fracas, as most RN frigates were built for service in the Northern Hemisphere, where the wave configuirations are in sevens, in the Southern Hemisphere the wave configuration is in fives. So at some point that affected a Leander Type 42 frigate which caused a crack across its forepeak and the only thing stopping it falling off as it were , were two steel girders welded to his forepeak on its deck, stopping the boat from falling apart, she then sailed back to the UK . So it proves GOOD SEAMANSHIP can save a boat.

[Drunk Monkey]

All suppositions as to the cause of this 36 year old boat sinking will I am sure never be made freely available. I have been advised by those that spent most of their adult lives in the RN , GOOD SEAMANSHIP is the key to keeping any boat afloat, no matter the damage, unless the bloody thing blew up .
Considering the ability of boats with CLOSED UP watertight doors CAN SUSTAIN A LOT OF DAMAGE AND STIL MASNAGE TO REMAIN AFLOAT , until assistance arrives. it would seem that procedures normally followed in rough seas was NOT followed and hence a rapid flooding seems likely, but I am sure the RTN will never admit that .

I remember following the Falklands fracas, as most RN frigates were built for service in the Northern Hemisphere, where the wave configuirations are in sevens, in the Southern Hemisphere the wave configuration is in fives. So at some point that affected a Leander Type 42 frigate which caused a crack across its forepeak and the only thing stopping it falling off as it were , were two steel girders welded to his forepeak on its deck, stopping the boat from falling apart, she then sailed back to the UK . So it proves GOOD SEAMANSHIP can save a boat.

Keelhaul the blighters .. eh KP..

No debate can take away the fact many young men lost their lives , in itself a terrible thing regardless of where any blame lies .. many families mourning loved ones, very sad.

RIP to all the sailors that perished.

DM