Gulf of Thailand Shipwreck
Diving
Trips
Latest
Report:- Shipwreck 'Akela' found.
Discovered:- 29 April 2008
  
All images above, copyright of Chris Clark
www.acemarineimages.com
'used with permission'
Dear Divers,
We’ve
just returned from two US charters organized by Richie and Carrie Kohler.
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 made in a Dutch yard in the 1950’s. Evan , Deep Sea Detective
cameraman, found the bell marked ‘Akela’ - his first. According to the NJ
divers it’s tradition to kiss the captain’s arse if you want to keep a bell
- a tradition which MV Trident will try and preserve.
  
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. 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.
On
the last day we picked up two new marks for the Araosan, one of them only a
few miles from Hardhead’s mark, next time we’ll get her, I’m sure.
Yours,
Jamie MacLeod ,
MV trident Shipwreck Research Vessel
Mystery Marus
Dozens of Japanese 'Maru' or
large commercial transport vessels were sunk in the Gulf of Siam and South China
Sea during the latter stages of WWII. Most were sank as a result of American
submarine action and Allied Forces aerial bombing runs from India.
Gentlemen;
Some of these vessels are HUGE and will need several dives just to get a feel
for them. !
From Jamie Macleod,
Master Divers, Koh Tao
Commencing May
2005, Thailand will have it's first liveaboard dive boat dedicated to visiting
many of the unexplored wrecks of the Gulf of Siam. Jamie Macleod of
Master Divers, Koh Tao will sail the M.V. Trident from Phuket to Koh Tao
during May, visiting many of the famous wrecks that lie in the Malacca straights
plus others in the Gulf of Thailand such as 'The Prince of Wales', 'The Repulse',
'The
Seven Skies' and more. Any crazy deep wreck divers with a taste for unlimited fun
in deep waters on virgin wrecks are welcome. Backpackers and Bullshitters are
not. Expect to part with a fair amount of sausage to get on these super trips.
LATEST News from MV Trident - March 2008
Finally the bad weather has passed and the boat is finished , for time being
at least, and we’re back to work.
We’ve just returned from our first long range trip this year , to the Tottori
Maru. This wreck is getting better and better , we’ll be finding new areas on
this one for years. Have a look on
www.techthailand.com for some pictures.
We have a few shorter trips
planned soon , a great trip back to the Hammerhead’s victims on March 16th,
then a busy April.
There are still a couple of places left on Kohler’s April 3rd charter
too. May is shaping up, two trips either 8th -11th, or
20-23rd.
Keep an eye on our Trip
Schedule page for updates,
Yours, Jamie Macleod
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
8-12th September
2006 Wreck trip-update
The MV Trident Shipwreck
research Vessel is organizing an exploratory trip to the east of Samui into
the Gulf of Siam departing on the 8th October for four days. The
main target is the Sakura Maru, 7000 ton passenger cargo sunk by USS
Hammerhead,
This trip is
nearly fully booked with an international cast of ‘the usual suspects – 2
places are still available only at the unusually affordable price of only
THB 30,000 per inmate, depart Koh Tao evening 8th October, return
evening 12th October 2006(if you’re lucky), guaranteed virgins –
and you know how rare they are in these parts.
Also…a new find;
a new steel wreck, approx 1000 ton, 3 nm from ‘Southwest pinnacle’(Koh Tao).
This will be visited by MV Trident during the next few days for more
exploration/penetration and a good sussing out. Only 37m to the sand. A
‘lady-boy’ dive.
Interested
Divers experienced in decompression diving please contact:
Jamie
Macleod
info@masterdive.org
Tel:
+66-77-456314 Fax:
+66-77-456765.
Contact
Jamie Macleod
 
Wreck Diving Trips
P38 Lightening Wreck (Koh Tao)
( Picture courtesy of
http://www.jetplanes.co.uk )
With regards to our telephone conversation earlier today, you will find attached
a picture of what we believe to be a part of the landing gear of a P38 lightning
bomber. This was located in the following coordinates 10 54 608N 100 22 217E, on
an expedition set up by Davy Jones’ Locker, which is owned by Tim Lawrence and
Charlotte Ragnarsson. We had two teams diving on her. The wreck itself is intact
as far as we can see. We cannot confirm that the cockpit is open as there is
quite heavy netting in that area. Most of the wings are intact although the
propellers on the engines are missing. At the present we have sent off the
pictures to the American Air Force to see if we can find out any information
regarding the pilot and the mission she was on. If you click on to this site
http://www.jetplanes.co.uk/vintageaircraft/p38.html, you can get some info on
the P38.
The expedition set out on the evening of the 18th of June, arrived at 07.00 AM
on the 19th of June. The teams were lead by Tim Lawrence and Milo Duben. Our
phone number is 077 45 62 16 or 079 70 09 13, we keep you informed of any
information that we can get back from any of the agencies that we have contacted
for confirmation of the type of plane and any information of the mission she was
on and the pilot involved. We plan to go back there in a week to clear the
netting on the cockpit.
Thanks for your interest,
Best wishes,
Tim Lawrence at
Davy Jones' Locker, Mae Haad,
Koh Tao. Tel 077-456216
New
wreck site, hidden for 20 years!
 Information
Kindly sent by Khun Pichit Muangnapoe
22 April 2004
Located
in the middle of the gulf of Thailand. H.T.M.S.
Pattini, H.T.M.S. Phali, and H.T.M.S. Nongsarhai, Three Royal Thai Navy
battleships were sunk as target ships during the 70’s and 80’s. Only 3 hours
cruise from Pranburi, recreational SCUBA divers can enjoy rich marine life and
thrilling adventure of wreck dives.
  
Bridge
of H.T.M.S. Phali. A long (52 meter) Thai navy gunship. Sunk at the depth of 30
meters.
Navarat Cruise:
Phatara Marina, Paknampran, Pranburi, Prajuabkhirikhan, Thailand
The last
British Warship sunk in WWII
 
Dive tours to the HMS Vestal
wreck - the last British warship sunk in World War II - lying at 70m depth -
discovered by 'Deep Blue Divers' only two years ago -We recently discovered a
further wreck: the SS Petaling - a steamboat built in 1928 in Singapore lying up
right at 60m depth off the western Phuket coastline. During the high season
'Deep Blue Divers' arrange trips to this wreck and to the HMS Vestal every two
weeks. for more information please contact then by email at
info@deep-blue-divers.de
address it to the boss Mr. Andreas
vestal & Petaling Wreck dive update ...28 Nov 2004
We plan to dive the Petaling on
Monday the 29th of November and The Vestal on Friday the 03th of December.
For those of you who like to join us on that trip please make a reservation. If
you need any tanks filled or rental tanks let us know soon as possible for
better coordination. We have to keep the option to cancel the trip the day
before if the weather is to rough.
The cost will be 4000,- THB per person including food and soft drinks but not
tanks or rental equipment.
Hope to here from you.
Best regards, Joerg.
Deep Blue Divers
47/1 Moo 4, Soi Serm Suk
Muang, Rawai
83100 Phuket
THAILAND
Andreas Donate Tel.: +66 (0)1-5362704
Joerg Zebisch Tel.: +66 (0)9-8662361
Fax Germany : 01805-39160 51322
Fax Thailand: +66 (0)76-280146
Email:
info@deep-blue-divers.de
http://www.deep-blue-divers.de
2005 Repulse & POW Trips with MV Grace
From: Greg Doyle
mailto:gxdoyle@penetrationdivers.com
Hi All,
In 2005 we currently plan to run six (6) ten (10) day
trips to the Repulse and Prince of Wales. The dates for the trips are as
follows: The retail price for the trip is fixed at S$ 3,5000 / US$ 2,000 and
there is an option of doing only 5 days (the first or second 5 days of each of
the scheduled trips) and the price then is S$2,000 / US$ 1,145. Unlike 2004
Helium and Oxygen will be extra charges (since it is now a 10 day trip at the
same price as 2004's 5 day trips) and will be priced as standard mixes on a
'per-dive' basis. Each trip has 10 full day's diving of which 8 will be
technical on either Repulse or POW and 2 will be at recreational depths.
The trip dates are selected to take advantage of the
best weather conditions on the wrecks (based on this season's experience)
Mar 6 - Mar 17 Repulse / POW (10 Days)
Mar 20-Mar 31 Repulse / POW (10 Days)
Apr 10 - Apr 21 Repulse / POW (10 Days)
Aug 14 - Aug 25 Repulse / POW (10 days)
Sep 11 - Sep 22 Repulse / POW (10 days)
Oct 9 - Oct 20 Repulse / POW
If you want to organize a charter outside these dates
please let us know as soon as possible as we are in the process of confirming
next season's schedule, after which new charters may be difficult to
accommodate.
Gulf of Thailand 'Large Deep Wrecks trip" January 2004
The trip will leave on the evening of the 14th of January (around 7-9 p.m.).
We will meet here in Pattaya and I will have taxi's to take people to Samae
San, Chonburi, Thailand. We will do a dive on Saturday on a WW2 wreck that
has large bombs on it.
The wreck is at 60-62 meters deep, Trimix will be used for the dives. On
Sunday we will dive on either another steel wreck or possible a pottery
wreck in the 50-60 meter dive. The cost of the trip 14,000 baht plus tanks
and helium. We should be back in Pattaya around midnight of the 16th. Water
and food will be supplied on the boat. Any soft drinks or munchies you can
bring and put in the cooler.
I.T.#47 ANDI
Haguro, Myoko,
Kuma, Sun Vista trips
Just an enquiry to see if you'd be interested in joining up with us for
some wreck expeditions outside Penang, Malaysia, on some very rarely dived
but really interesting wrecks sometime in jan-april 2006.
We will do Haguro, an upright Japanese heavy cruiser in 64msw, Japanese
heavy cruiser Myoko in 80 msw, Japanese light cruiser Kuma in 45 msw and the
massive luxury liner Sun Vista in 65 msw. We also have some carriers and
almost a dozen submarines in the area.
As Penang is not that far from Phuket I'd think you'd be a bit interested.
You can basically just load up your gear and drive down over half a day.
We also do regular visits to the HMS Repulse, HMS POW etc on the east coast
(a bit further to go). More info on our website.
best regards,
Erik Engberg
Director
REC 'N TEC Sdn. Bhd.
10-1, Jln 22A/70A
Desa Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur
Tel/Fax: +60 3 6201 4726
H/P: +60 19 700 9387
http://www.recntec.com
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