MV TRIDENT KOH TAO DIVING

Welcome to Technical Diving.

Trips
December 04th 2006 Posted in Pages

Have a look at the ‘Divers’ Trip Reports’ page for an idea of how the trips are run.

We run regular technical diving live-aboard expeditions - normally twice a month - and the very occaisonal recreational diving trip. All meals are provided , a mixture of Thai and international cuisine. MV Trident has a fully stocked bar and a large BBQ. You won’t go hungry or thirsty - promise.

Trips normally depart from Koh Tao, and also Koh Samui for southerly trips. See the ‘Getting Here’ page

We’ve only had to postpone liveaboard trips a couple of times due to weather as we choose locations according to the season. If you can’t make an alternative date ,we’re happy to put you up in superior accommdation and still take you wreck diving daily. Travel Insurance is also available to cover any costs incurred, see link

Divers should remember that some of our sites are war graves and we should not remove any artifacts from these particular wrecks.

Wreck Wednesdays Two great wreck dives with breakfast and lunch.Every Wednesday . Experienced recreational divers welcome

Technical tours take a maximum of ten divers. Twins (2 x DIN aluminium 11litre) and DIN deco cylinders are included, all other equipment is available for rent. We are rebreather - friendly. If you can put a group together, we’re more than happy to give you a daily charter price.

The Gulf of Siam was heavily patrolled by US submarines,in 1945 they sank dozens of ‘marus’ - Japanese freighters and tankers carrying everything from supplies to POW’s.Using the submarines’ logs as a starting point each of our expeditions include exploratory dives with the chance of diving virgin WW2 wrecks.

Cost of Oxygen is minimal, maximum of US$10 per diver- total usage divided amongst the team,if we can be bothered to do the maths!

Continuous Flow Nitrox to 40% included in the above.

Trimix is also blended with Continuous Flow, helium costs 3baht/litre. Helium analyser on board.

Drager Dive sorb @420baht/kilo. Oxygen boosted to 200bar if required

December 04th 2006 Posted in Pages
Welcome To M.V. Trident.

MV Trident is located on Koh Tao, a small island in the Gulf of Thailand easily accessible from the mainland at Chumporn or from Koh Samui.

Accommodation is varied on the island, varying from basic beach side bungalows to luxury resorts. If you or your family would prefer recreational land based diving we can arrange this too with our sister school Master Divers. There are many activities for non-divers too.

Although recreational diving has been popular here for twenty years, and we’ve been diving our local wrecks for that time using fishing boats, real world class technical diving has only been available since we bought the Trident in 2005.

We have 90,000 sq. miles of relatively shallow water ( less than 80m) to explore. The Gulf has been a major shipping route for hundreds of years so we’re able to dive wooden Chinese pottery wrecks, WW2 ships, aeroplanes and submarines, and modern wrecks.

Since our maiden voyage we have discovered dozens of major wrecks, nearly all WW2 and all virgin. (We also found a lot of rubbish too!- see the ‘Rubbish Wrecks’ page).

The USS Lagarto was the most publicised but there are still many more stories to tell including the 1945 route of USS Hammerhead who sunk several marus in the Gulf of Siam.

Japanese records state that 179 marus ( merchant vessels) were lost in the Gulf of Thailand in WW2, we have hundreds of co-ordinates waiting to be dived, some we’ve seen on the sounder but not had a chance to dive yet.

We run Exploratory expeditions on a regular basis , and although there is never any guarantee of great new wrecks every trip, our success rate is very high. If you like un-dived virgin wrecks and are prepared to ‘get down there and see what it is’, these trips are perfect for you.

The Gulf is an ideal place to dive, the water is generally clear, any currents are mild and the seas are calm. We can dive year round in the gulf of Thailand, although the NW monsoon can blow hard in November and early December.

Training
December 04th 2006 Posted in Pages

The only way to be a good tec diver is to get out and do it! There’s a lot more to tec diving than going through the required skills and diving a bit deeper and longer than the recreational reef divers you’ve shared a boat with.

All our tec students deserve a liveaboard trip to some of our best WW2 wrecks. You’ll learn GPS navigation,reading the sonar, search techniques, shotting the wreck and how to tie into a wreck as well as picking up a huge amount of knowledge from the other tec divers on the trip. There is no extra charge for our tec students.

If you’re really keen you can learn to blend Nitrox and Trimix during the trip.

After the formal training dives are completed, we always make time for a couple of tec dives just for fun.

We are able to teach all levels of technical and recreational diving with PADI/DSAT TecRec,and all levels of SSI including their exciting new Technical Extended Range program.Hopefully soon we’ll be able to offer TDI courses too.

We teach instructor level technical courses, both SSI and DSAT, to TMX Instructor

Please ask for more information for your particular requirements.

For example:

DSAT Tec Deep - 12 dives, 8 days minimum, includes live-aboard

DSAT Tec Trimix - 6 Tmx dives, 4 days minimum, includes live-aboard

SSI Tech Foundations - 8 dives

SSI Deco Procedures - 6 dives, includes live-aboard

SSI Adv Deco Procedures - 4 dives, includes live-aboard

SSI Entry -Trimix , includes live-aboard

We also offer great internships for those willing to join our team. Email us now to get to know how to get started.

Dive Sites
December 04th 2006 Posted in Pages

WRECK DIVING ASIA!

Koh Tao offers about 25 divesites in close proximity to the island. They feature mostly rock formations and pinnacles, as well as shallow reefs and coral gardens. lots of grey reef sharks. Whalesharks are regular visitors. Maximum depth 45 metres.

We visit some of these sites during the beginning stages of tec courses, but the reason we dive are some of the best wrecks in Asia

We have found dozens in the gulf and continue to so, here’s a small selection of what we can offer. Not every wreck is worth returning to, we’ve listed some of those on our ‘Rubbish Wrecks’ page.

There’s a few of our wrecks listed below on the ‘Divers’Trip Report’ page too

Torpedo Wreck
The Torpedo Wreck is a 50 meter local cargo ship carrying timber logs sitting upright about 2 hours north from Koh Tao. Maximum depth 55 metres.

Unicorn Wreck
The Unicorn Wreck is a 55 meter Japanese refrigerated cargo vessel sitting nearly upright only 30mins north of Koh Tao. The top of the bow is at 37 meters, maximum depth 50 metres. Perfect for experienced recreational divers or a tec day trip.

The Unicorn arrived at Koh Tao in 1989, achored for a few days and then suddenly sunk. An insurance claim for canned tuna was made,but when a team of divers dived the wreck they found animal feed, hence the nickname, “Dogfood wreck”

USS Lagarto - rediscovered 19-05-2005
The USS Lagarto is a Balao class fleet submarine sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy minelayer HATSUTAKA, on May 4 1945 with all 86 hands lost.

The Lagarto weighs 1500tons and 105m long, she sits upright in 72m, and is fully intact, a demanding dive.

The submarine is a restricted war grave and is being treated with the utmost respect she deserves. She is currently being researched and documented by our team with the permission of the US Navy’s Naval Historical Center. The exact location of the Lagarto remains a closely guarded secret.For a full history visit www.usslagarto.org .

Big Boy - rediscovered 19-02-2006
Originally thought to be WW2 Japanese Passenger/Cargo vessel , she lies upright in 68m,top of the wreck is 54m, quite a large one, weighing about 3,500 tons.

After research, at the bar with a local fisherman, we have discovered that this vessel was hit by another freighter in the 1950’s. The offending vessel returned to pick up survivors. She was carrying a cargo of Dutch ceramics from Singapore to Bangkok.

“Solimoes” - rediscovered 28-07-2005

This huge wreck lies on her starboard side in 58m. The top of the wreck is at 40 m, length is 150m, tonnage is 10,000 tons. She has had some damage starboard aft. There is a lot of machinery, steam engines, cranes,augers and some evidence of fire in the forward hold.

This a huge wreck and will take a longtime to fully explore.Great penetrations.

We originally thought this wreck could be the Tottori Maru , but we’ve since found her to the north. the name Solimoes on the bow is all we have so far

HTMS Pangan - rediscovered 15/08/05

A Royal Thai Navy wreck , bult in Japan before WW2. Carrying ammunition and gunpowder for disposal, she reportedy sunk in a storm in 1961. Fire damage on the superstructiure indicates a fire, however. There was no loss of life

This wreck is about 60 nautical miles from Koh Tao, an easy 6 hour run. She lies on her port side in 60 metres of clear water, the top of the wreck is at 48m. Length is about 60m, beam 10m, weight approx 3000 tons. This wreck is very well appointed, twin screws, lots of portholes, telegraphs and deck machinery. My favourite Gulf of Thailand dive so far - until we found the Tottori!

Tanker Maru - rediscovered 22/10/05
This wreck lies close to the Pangan. She is a 60m, 2500 ton post war Japanese oil tanker sitting upright in 60m. There is no apparent damage except for a split in the bow below the waterline.

Akita Maru ( no positive ID as yet)

Sunk by Dutch submarine O-19 in January 1942, she sits upright in 78m. a large 3,900 ton Maru, we have only dived her once to date. A ‘nearly’ virgin.

Pornsri - re-discovered 11 feb 2007

A 6000ton freighter sunk between 1983-1993. 68m to the bottom, 52m to top, she lies on her port side. although she sank recently she’s an old ship with lots of goodies. Great vis and not many fish in the way yet. Lots of penetration

Vlado - rediscovered 13th Feb 2007

Even bigger than the Pornsri,she lies on her starboard side in slightly shallower water. a pre-war ship, sunk in the 1960’s so much more marine life.

A very old classic twin superstructured freighter,the owners couldn’t have been too surprised when this one sank. lots to explore.

Seacrest Drillship (pic above)
Re-discovered, 16/03/07

Rig: Seacrest Drillship
Date: 03 November 1989
Location: Platong Gas Field, Gulf of Thailand
Operator: Unocal
Fatalities: 97

Summary
Details of the Seacrest capsize tragedy are sketchy. Newspaper reports state that 97 crew were working aboard the 4400-tonne Unocal-owned drillship in the South China Sea, around 430 kilometres south of Bangkok, when it capsized in heavy seas caused by Typhoon Gay.

The ship was reported missing on Saturday, 4 November 1989 and a search helicopter located the Seacrest floating upside-down 0815 local time on Sunday, 5 November 1989. Two rescue crew were landed on the up-turned hull of the ship to check for survivors. They tapped on the hull in the hope that some crew may have survived in an airpocket inside the ship, but received no reponse. Over the following days, Thai Navy divers searched the ship and found two bodies in the hull.

Newspapers reported a total of 97 crew on board the Seacrest: 64 Thais, seven Americans, four Australians, four Britons, three Canadians, two Danes, two Filipinos, one Italian, one New Zealander, eight Singaporeans and one West German. Another report states that there were 91 fatalities with 2 survivors.

The drillship is also mentioned briefly in a US Navy document discussing Typhoon Gay, where it is noted that the eye appeared to have passed over the Seacrest, after which heavy seas caused the ship to capsize. Other reports state that the Seacrest had a derrick full of pipe when storm hit, with a high centre of gravity contributing to the accident.

The dive

We’ve just found this one! very shallow, 48m to the sand, 38m to the top of the wreck. Nice clear water too, we could see the wreck from the surface. She lies on her port side, the derrick and wheelhouse are missing but we have a few marks close by which we’ll look at next time.

A great dive to warm up on before the deeper wrecks in this area

Tottori Maru - rediscovered 4/4/07

A 5,900 ton passenger/cargo vessel, built in Glasgow in the 1890’s and sunk by USS Hammerhead in 1945.

Used by the Japanese to transport POW’s and known as a ‘Hellship’.she now lies on her starboard side in 73m of clear water, huge torpedo damage in the bow. lots of brass, ceramics ,ammunition scattered around the wreck.

Sakura Maru -rediscovered 6/4/07

Another one of Hammerhead’s 1945 victims, a 1500 ton bulk carrier sitting upright in 70m, again torpedoed in the bow.great penetration

Nanmei No 5 Maru- rediscovered 7/4/07

Yet another one of Hammerhead’s, sunk at the same time as Sakura, also with a shot in the bow .A small tanker upright in 70m.

These three marus are very close together,a perfect 6 day liveaboard with minimal travelling once we’re there

Steel Trawler - rediscovered 8/4/07

A large trawler sunk in Tropical Storm Muay Fah in 2004. Very modern, micowaves, radar, freezers,a bit of fun.

Unidentified Marus
The Gulf of Thailand was heavily patrolled by US submarines, in 1945 they sank dozens of ‘marus’ - japanese freighters and tankers carrying everything from supplies to POW’s. Using the submarines’ logs as a starting point each of our expeditions will include exploratory dives with the chance of diving virgin WW2 wrecks.

Trip Schedule
February 22nd 2007 Posted in News

This page will let you know when we have confirmed trips but we’re able to gather divers locally, so let us know what suits you and we’ll build a trip around your dates.

We’ve only had to postpone live-aboard trips a couple of times due to weather as we choose locations according to the season. If you can’t make an alternative date ,we’re happy to put you up in superior accommdation and still take you wreck diving daily.

For information on how to reach us ,look at the ‘Getting Here’ page

January - nothing booked, but we’re anxious to get started after New Year, any ideas?

Feb 5th - 11th Hammerhead Tour! our first long range trip of the year, perfect for Trimix training . See news page. places available ,more than half -filled already.

Hard work this trip, but all was well, lots of new Trimix divers and Instructors, see News page

March 16-22nd , full charter to the Hammerhead area. if this suits you we could possibly find a place for you

April 1st - 18th Two back to back charters with Richie Kohler and Co. Some known wrecks and hopefully some new ones, spaces available

April 20th -26th Solimoes, USS Lagarto and others, leaving from Samui

May 8th -11th HTMS Phangan .

May 20th -23rd HTMS Phangan.

CCR Friendly - Rebreather Thailand
June 26th 2007 Posted in News

We’re trying hard to be CCR friendly, we can offer.

1. Any tmx blend at any time to 200 bar , due to continuous flow filling. Helium analyser on-board

2. Oxygen boosted to 200bar

3. Dive-sorb for sale on board

4. Clean dry workshop area with tools

5. Coming soon, 2L and 3L steel tanks with 180 degree valves

Rubbish wrecks
February 19th 2007 Posted in News
Each expedition we checkout some of the wreck marks we have collected from fishermen over the years.

The Gulf of Thailand is littered with wrecks, some interesting dives, some not.

Here are some of the rubbish wrecks we’ve found, we keep good records so we’ll never return again by accident!

1. Small barge close to Koh Tao carrying plastic crates and 1968 Singha beer bottles. Listed on another website as Divvy Jones Locker wreck and described as an ‘Ocean Going Japanese Tug’ sunk by a US Submarine in WW2! max vis 2m,max depth 36m

2. Large wooden cargo vessel, bottom of the wreck 46m, top at 45m, the timbers have rotted away leaving a huge pile of bottles and plates. These wrecks are also described as Japanese WW2 Schooners - but not by us.

3. Upside down Steel barge east of Samui, not even something to tie onto, and another one 2 miles away.

4. Scattered remains of a C47 plane covered in nets

5. Tiny steel freighter carrying bitumen, topside damage looks like she was sunk by surface fire

6. Bigger steel freighter as above carrying bricks, (actually not a bad dive if it was a bit closer)

7. Half a wooden fishing boat in 65m

8. An engine block only in 68m

9. A small fishing boat covered in nets and fish in 68m. This one gave us a great sonar signature, I nearly died on this one

10. Another steel barge in 65m east of Koh Tao

11. Yet another steel barge west of Koh Tao towards Chumporn

Divers Trip Reports
October 03rd 2007 Posted in News
These are some of our divers’ reports, click on the links

1. Hammerhead Tour ‘ by Sven Paepke

2. HTMS Pangan tour by Thierry Minet

3. ‘USS Lagarto’ by Ayeesha Cantrell

4. Deep Sea Dectectives USS Lagarto Preview

5. Women and Technical Diving! by Ayeesha Cantrell

6. Pornsri and Vlado by Ed Roosendaal

7. Solimoes, Lagarto, Seacrest by Matt Ward

8. HTMS Phangan by Dmitri Gorski