techdivethailand

50 metre wreck dives collect further evidence of Japanese origin + 2 new BSAC Extended Range Divers

December 15, 2007 on 2:00 pm | In DJL Expedition Reports |

Yesterday we sent our big dive boat across to Chumphon on the Thai mainland for it’s annual maintenance. We took advantage of the journey by doing a bit of wreck diving exploration on the way over.

We split into two dive teams. Gerry & Alex undertook the final dives of their BSAC Extended Range Diver course under the instruction of Tim. After recovering from his sunburn, Leon dived on his Buddy Exolution closed circuit rebreather pairing up with Gary.

Again, we had fantastic sea conditions as we left early from Sairee Beach, Koh Tao.

First, we headed out the the wreck dive site which we located in August [suspected WW2 schooner wreck]. Since the wooden wreck has been down for some time, it has collapsed making it very difficult to detect at 50 metres. After a period of searching we got the sonar return we wanted.

Tim’s team descended first, securing the shot line to one of the large ballast stones. Leon & Gary followed, running a longer bottom time to allow further investigation of the wreck diving site.

Visibility was low [about 1-2 metres at depth] making it difficult to get a proper impression of the wreck. Here are our key observations from our wreck dives:

Due to it’s age and wooden structure, the wreck is now very scattered and disordered.

We believe the shot was secured inside the wreck, amidships close to the port-side. On reaching the bottom at 48 metres, Tim’s team turned right, presumably towards the stern. Tim saw a large wheel which he believes to be part of the engine.

There are an enormous number of glass bottles - too many and too concentrated in one area to have been dropped from fishing boats - therefore presumably part of the cargo.

Close to the shot line we saw several large broken toilets and sinks, suggesting that the wreck must have been a decent size and quality.

Leon located a cargo hold of plates - he estimates that there are many hundreds stacked and continuing down below the silt. We recovered two of the more ornate ones to try to get more of a clue to the identity of the wreck.

We’ve now seen three different makers marks all from Japan. They are all printed in English, presumably suggesting that the Japanese cargo was intended for an English speaking market. This seems unusual, given the suspected dating of the wreck.

Leon will take the two plates back to the UK with him and will try to shed light on their origin from one of his contacts. We’ll have to wait and see what turns up.

After leaving the wreck diving site, a storm moved in and wave heights picked up. We got very wet!

During the onward journey towards the mainland we checked out two more fishermans marks hoping to discover another wreck site. Despite extensive sonar surveys at each of the locations, we didn’t get any definitive returns so decided not to dive. At one site there was a palm fisherman’s float and line descending down to the bottom, but this was most likely attached to a fish trap. Hopefully more luck next time - all part of the process of eliminating marks!

The sun set as we headed on towards the mainland, passing lots of small islands as we approached the city of Chumphon.

We drove up the river, passing lots of fishing boats and fish processing plants before finally reaching the Koh Tao night boat just before 21:00. We transferred all our tech diving gear across, then grabbed a quick bite to eat, before getting back onto the night boat and returning to Koh Tao at 5am - quite a long day!

Anyway, congratulations to Gerry & Alex on completing their BSAC Extended Range Diver course - hopefully they’ll continue to be active technical divers in the future.