HTMS Sattakut LCI 742 - Koh Tao - Update

Koh Tao's new wreck the HTMS Sattakut has settled just south of Hin Pee Wee at a depth of 32m according to local reports. A few dive schools have taken a look already and several videos are available on YouTube. Planet Scuba are taking a look later today with a few experienced staff.

We're not sure who owns this video so we cant give credit at the moment.

We received the following letter this morning from the 'Tao Tourism Association'. "As of June 18,2011, the Royal Naval vessel HMS Sattakut was sunk off sairee beach, south of dive site 'Hin Pee Wee' on Koh Tao. Unfortunately because of bad weather on the day the Sattakut was sunk and unfortunately rested on its side, rather than the desired upright position."

"Becaucse of this, agencies and staff involved with the project are currently working on revisions to have the vessel position changed to an upright position. Therefore we would kindly ask if any divers are planning to dive the Sattakut, they must be properly trained or be very experienced in this field of diving for their own safety. We would kindly ask all dive schools on the island for their cooperation with this matter in order to avoid accidents or even fatalities"

So we're not sure when this is likely to happen. Stay safe when you dive it :)

HTMS Sattakut LCI 742 - Koh Tao - Sinking delayed

The HTMS Sattakut soon to be Koh Tao's new wreck gets to float for 1 more day. More than 25 boats from local dive schools turned out to watch the show but were treated to only a slight listing as the wreck took on some water. Sea conditions were choppy with swells around 1m. Much less that what had been predicted. Thankfully Whaleshark 1, Planet Scuba's smallest boat is one of the most stable boats on Koh Tao. Although some of our local guests turned slightly green.

HTMS Sattakut - Listing but not sinking today

The video below is of the HTMS Prab, the sister ship to the Sattakut that was sunk in Chumphon as an artificial reef. Hopefully the Sattakut goes down straighter than this!

According to Bangkok sources the boat has been fitted with valves that once opened will flood the ship. Why it didn't happen today is still up too speculation. We were contacted at 12:30 pm by colleagues who were aboard the press boat to say that conditions were not good to continue the sinking. So the Sattakut gets to float for another day, even if it is listing. We're also getting the ship's history from when she was taken over by The Royal Thai Navy sometime this week. I doubt that it was as active as it had been during World War 2.

This video is from the HTMS Prab which was sunk last month in Chumphon.

Were waiting to hear what time tomorrow. My advice would be to watch out for Crystal 1. They're carrying the journalists so its unlikely anything will happen until they arrive.

Koh Tao's New Wreck - The HTMS Sattakut - The History

Koh Tao will have a new wreck to scuba dive on from the 18th of June 2011. The former World War 2 landing craft will be sunk as an artificial reef on the west coast of Koh Tao. After years of campaigning to secure a vessel the Royal Thai Navy will sink the HTMS Sattakut LCI - 742 (formally the USS LCI - 739). Wild Planet and sister company Planet Scuba will be at the sinking ceremony just south of 'Hin Pee Wee' dive site.

The landing craft was built in 1943 by the 'Commercial Iron Works' in Portland, Oregon USA. She was launched on the 27th of February 1944 and commissioned the USS LCI (L) - 739 on the 6th of March 1944. The vessel was to be assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theatre of operations. It was exactly 6 months later when the LCI -739 saw action as part of the capture and occupation of the Southern Palau islands. The campaign was known as the 'Western Caroline islands' operation and lasted until October 14th 1944. She was re-classified as a 'Gunboat' on the 31st of December 1944 before seeing action again in the assault and occupation of Iwo Jima. The Iwo Jima operation lasted from the 19th of February to the 3rd March 1945.

It wasn't long before the 'Sattakut' was in action again. Just 3 weeks later she was part of the 'Okinawa Gunto Operation' which lasted from the 26th of March to the 14th June 1945. During which time the vessel was again re-classified to a 'mortar' boat. At the close of the war the USS LCI (L) (G) (M) 739 received 3 battle stars for its service during the above campaigns. She was taken out of service with the US Navy in 1947. I will find out more about her service with the Royal Thai Navy and include it in the blog on Saturday.

If you want to be part of the sinking ceremony please contact Planet Scuba - Mae Haad - 077 456 110 before Friday the 17th June. 

Wild Planets' Operations Manager - Dave Milne

Continuing the theme of meet the staff.......

Dave Milne has been actively involved in the outdoor adventure industry since 1988 from mountaineering in England, Scotland, Wales and Greenland to canyoning, scuba diving and white water rafting in Australia.  He moved to Thailand in 1998 where he has been teaching scuba diving, as well as heading up outdoor adventure activity programs and IYA programs for International Schools in the region.  Dave is a PADI IDC Staff instructor, an SSI Master Instructor, an Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer, a BCU Level 3 Inland Kayak Coach, a Swift Water Rescue Technician and has a Bsc (hons) in Environmental Science.. 

Dave is Bangkok based where he lives with his wife Ai (also a qualified Scuba Instructor) and his son Joshua. When not in Asia he is a keen skier, and thinks that the only thing missing from Thailand is snowy peaks.

Meet The Wild Planet Staff

As the summer holidays are beginning for the International schools the Wild Planet staff prepare for next season.  So it’s time to take the opportunity to introduce the staff that make up The Wild Planet.

Robin Lloyd – UK

Robin has been ‘into’ outdoor and adventure sports as long as he can remember, luckily his parents encouraged him in this sending him to try any sport he showed an interest in when he was young, and from the unlikely setting of Norfolk UK (very flat and benign) he developed a love for white-water kayaking and surfing and spent his teenage years and college years kayaking, surfing, hill walking, climbing, caving, diving and biking around the UK. After graduating as a construction engineer he spent a year in the UK before leaving on a surf/paddle trip to Asia. 

Coming to Thailand 15 years ago for a party he got way laid and never really left. He began teaching diving in the Southern Island of Koh Tao and after a couple of years moved to Sri Lanka to set up a diving operation and adventure sports business working with the existing Thailand based dive school, 12 months later he returned to Thailand saw the opportunity for adventure sports here and The Wild Planet was born.

Robin’s first love is still white-water kayaking and now at 39 finding himself ‘the old boy” he is currently trying to master more play boating moves in order not to get left behind by the younger paddlers. Robin has extensive expedition experience in Thailand and can always be found paddling or raft guiding on any of our longer white-water expeditions.

Discover Scuba Diving - Those first breaths

Discover Scuba diving is the first step on the PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) ladder to becoming a Scuba Diver. Wild Planet staff member Varintorn a.k.a ‘Tarn’ took her first breaths underwater with Planet Scuba dive school on the southern island of Koh Tao. The weather conditions had been perfect for several days which meant water clarity was exceptional. In diving terms we say the ‘vis’ (visibility) was 25 meters.

After a short swim to the shallow waters of ‘Japanese Gardens’ Bay (ranked 74^th in the worlds best dive sites), we found a perfect patch of sand. Tarn had to learn and then demonstrate basic scuba diving skills such as clearing a mask and recovering a regulator while underwater. These are just a few of the skills students need to master before progressing on to the PADI Open Water course. However today was just about discovering scuba. After a demonstration from her instructor (Wild Planet’s Toby Bell) on how to control her buoyancy Tarn was soon gliding through the water with ease. With large schools of ‘Seargant Major’ and ‘Fuselier’ fish swimming around her, any anxiety of breathing underwater quickly faded.

After a surface interval (lunch break) on the boat Tarn was ready for a second dive. This time descending from the boats’ anchor line rather than swimming to the shallows. PADI standards don’t allow you to exceed 12 meters for this type of program but that didn’t affect the quality of the dive. Japanese Gardens is famed for its countless species of coral which are best observed at no deeper than 7 meters. With scattered patches of sand it was easy to just sit and observe the ‘Damsel’ fish defending their territories from the schools of grazing ‘Parrot’ fish consuming the algae from the reef.

Most participants of this program spend around 40 minutes underwater depending on their air consumption. Given Tarn’s calmness and small physique her air could have lasted for hours. As the saying goes ‘all good things must come to an end’ , and it was soon time to return to the surface. The happy expression on her face said more than a 1000 words. A future Open water diver for sure.

Fluro Diving - Night Diving with a difference

Night diving isn't everyone’s cup of tea, but this could be about to change. A new way to see the underwater world is emerging on the island of Koh Tao. ‘Fluro Diving’ is where the standard white light torch is swapped for a powerful ‘Ultra Violet’ torch. You also need an additional visor for your mask which helps filter the intense blue light and emphasise the coral fluorescence.

The photo belongs to Charles Mazel from www.Nightsea.com

The affect is astonishing, resembling the night scenes from the movie Avatar. If you didn’t see the movie then where were you? The corals come to life in a very different way. The UV light reacts with the corals to create a fascinating array of fluorescent colours. Not all coral reacts to the light and some are brighter than others. For example the ‘Mushroom’ coral feeds at night by inflating its tentacles with water in an attempt to catch passing prey. By far it was the brightest of them all which could be its secret weapon for attracting its victims. 

The photo belongs to Charles Mazel from www.Nightsea.com

It wasn’t only the coral that shone brightly. Small crabs which scuttled across the sand glowed pink under the light. The white eyed moray eel glowed yellow. Very few fish react to the UV light but one in particular we noticed was the ‘long snouted cling fish’ which glowed pink. These guys are commonly found hiding in the spines of sea urchins. Again its difficult to know the reason why they glow and not others.

The photo belongs to Charles Mazel from www.Nightsea.com

Our dive was conducted at the ‘Twin Rocks’ dive site on Koh Tao. If you want to be a part of this new era of night diving get in touch with Planet Scuba on Koh Tao. You need to have good buoyancy skills and be comfortable with night diving because not everything at night is fluorescent. 

The photo belongs to Charles Mazel from www.Nightsea.com

As my guide said to me on the journey back to Mae Haad, “more people have climbed Mount Everest than have tried Fluro diving”.