Cruise ship runs aground at Pattaya
Photo: archive
Strong winds have recently hit the coast on the Gulf of Thailand. People were advised not to go into the sea at Sattahip. And on ships, passengers were advised to wear life jackets. A curious advice, because the latter would already be mandatory.
It becomes more interesting when even a large cruise ship from Singapore on its way to Hua Hin via Koh Samui and Koh Kood did not dare to sail any further. The ship with 150 passengers on board made an unscheduled stop at Koh Larn, an island off Pattaya. The captain of the cruise ship The World thought it was safer to protect the ship from the strong wind behind the island of Koh Larn and anchored there.
Local fishermen started spreading wild stories and fake news that the ship had hit the rocks and was therefore unable to continue. However, both the Pattaya City Hall and the Marine Department contradicted these false rumors and the ship was undamaged. It is known that when a ship starts to “roll” due to a different water displacement, the draft changes. As a result, a large ship can sometimes have a greater draft of 10 to 15 metres. It is difficult to say whether something has hit the relatively shallow Gulf of Thailand as a result. Fishermen, who are known here, could well be right.
As a gesture, the passengers were allowed to spend the night in the city of Pattaya and were transported via the Bali Hai pier. Why the people could not stay on board, however, raises a question mark. Especially if they have to disembark in bad weather. It is also remarkable that the well-known selfies or Facebook messages were nowhere to be found.
For the city of Pattaya, this was an extra promotion opportunity and would fit well into the government's eastern economic corridor plan (EEC). A Pattaya cruise terminal was already mentioned on the list of the EEC, which should be realized at Pattaya.
Source: Pattaya Mail
If the crew disembarks the passengers, you can almost certainly assume that a safety risk existed, or was suspected.
Now say Singapore, Ko Samui and then Hua Hin are all on the same road, or it should be that the ship wanted to call at Pattaya, which I doubt. Has anyone seen that ship? I arrived in Hua Hin yesterday by ferry from Pattaya and no wind in sight.
fake news?
Lucky for you that the recent high winds and cold have subsided!
Happy Holidays.
The ship on the photo is not The World and has been photoshopped, there is no funnel (chimney on it!) The World is a private cruise ship owned by wealthy owners, so enough reason that they were there.
Do you have any idea why it says 'Archive' with the photo? No? Well, that's what I thought….
A large cruise ship with only 150 people on board? Mmmmm, could be. But I think there must have been 1500…..