Arriving Back in Port

Cory and I waiting to be transferred to the supply ship

The captain of the supply ship maneuvers the vessel close to a platform to unload supplies

Our room on the supply ship

Riding in a Tuk-tuk in Bangkok

September 15th

I am somewhere in the Gulf of Thailand.  Today Cory and I transferred to a platform and then onto a supply ship that will, at some point, deliver us to Songkhla. I can hear the bow thruster’s powerful rumbling so I can guess that we are at a platform delivering supplies.

This ship is less than a year old and seems quite nice but like the Miclyn Energy it was built in China and we are told that the steal is not high quality.  This ship is equipped with an enormous anchor handling winch with a steel cable two inches in diameter.  But one of the mates on the bridge told us that the first time they used it the spine broke, and they blame the low quality craftsmanship on the ships country of origin.

The last few days have been an awful spell of bad weather, especially yesterday.  The average wave height was 2 or 2.5 meters with maximum swell and waves combined of 3.5 meters.  We couldn’t get much work done and we spent a lot of time transiting as we could only travel roughly half speed.  Everyone tried their best and we worked for quite a while in marginal conditions with sustained wind speeds close to 30 knots.  But eventually the captain was unable to hold the boat on position and we had to quit.

Over the last two weeks we were able to collect all but two of the vibrocore samples.  Now the crew will continue on for another two weeks performing routine environmental monitoring. About half of the Thai science crew where the same as last year and again they were great to work with.  The crew was always happy and helpful sometimes to the point that I felt like they didn’t even need me there to use the vibrocorer.

September 16^th

I woke this morning to the sound of the bow thruster.  A peak outside revealed that we were at PACPP still loaded and unloading supplies. By mid-morning we were headed for Songkhla.  For some reason we are not allowed to arrive at the pier before 6am tomorrow morning so instead of transiting at a normal 8 to 9 knots we are only making 5 to 6 knots thus extending the transit time from 12 hours to 18 hours.

I can’t really complain. I will be paid for my time and have been enjoying reading The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.  The book was a gift from my sister last Christmas and it is nice to finally have time to read. The truth is I do more recreational reading in these few weeks offshore then the rest of the year combined.  The first book I read on this trip, Derevnia's Daughters, was about the history of Afognak Village, Alaska in the late 1800s up through 1964. This 450 page book was quite interesting but not very well written and certainly not a page turner.  I’m glad I read it though and I’m certain I wouldn’t have made it through with the distractions of everyday life.

When we arrive in port tomorrow morning a Tetra Tech employee from the Bangkok office, Thagoon, will be meeting us.  This will be nice as we won’t have to worry about making local travel arrangements or hotel accommodations, although I feel confident I could manage on my own.

September 17^th

This morning we arrived at port in Songkhla. Thagoon met us at the boat and had arranged for us to clear customs when they opened at 8am. When you leave the port for the Gulf of Thailand it is considered leaving the country, therefore it was important to document that we had legally returned to Thailand.

Cory and I flew to Bangkok in the afternoon.  We decided to spend a day being tourists in the city before flying back to the states.  From the airport we took the sky train towards the city center where we were told we could catch a cab to the hotel we had booked.  This is where things got tricky.  No cab drivers were willing to take us to the hotel from the train station.  It was only a few kilometers away but when I showed them the address (which I had Thagoon write down in both English and Thai) they shook their head and drove away. We were not sure if they didn’t want to drive that direction in traffic or if they didn’t know where the hotel was.

We came across a Starbucks; it was like a little sanctuary for us north westerners.  Cool and quiet inside, we sat down and tried to come up with a plan.  We decided to walk a few blocks and get on a road that led in the direction of the hotel hoping we would have more luck with the taxis.  When we got to the intersection we stood there holding our map and staring at the street sign.  We probably looked lost.  A tuk tuk driver pulled up and asked us where we were going.  It took some convincing on our part that we really knew where we wanted to go.  Eventually he agreed to take us there for 200 Bhat (~7USD) and we were happy to pay.  First we had to stop and ask his friend for better directions, but soon we were on our way and it couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes before we arrived.  The hotel seems to be a good find; we are close to a lot of the main city attractions and there are clearly a lot of other tourists around.  Tomorrow should be a fun day of sightseeing.

News from The Gulf of Thailand

The ROV inside the tether management system

 

The captain maneuvering the vessel near one of the platforms

Sunset from the gas fields of the Gulf of Thailand

One of the central processing platforms

Video from the ROV showing the Van Veen grab sampler on the seabed

Sediment Profile Imaging camera

September 9^th 2012

Today is our 6^th day of survey in the Gulf of Thailand and the work continues to progress relatively smoothly. There is a large crew of Thai Scientists this year so there is often very little work for me to do when we are not using the Vibrocorer. I help out when I can but mostly I just read and wait for the times when I am needed.

The first few days we had some fairly marginal weather conditions. The sea-state was certainly not unsafe for a vessel of this size but rough enough to make launching and recovering our equipment difficult. With the swells and short period waves combined the seas were up to three meters. When the vessel was oriented with its stern to the seas the deck would go awash and we would often get wet. For the last 24 hours it has been quite calm with seas less than 1 meter, now it hardly feels like the vessel is moving. The downside to nice weather is that it’s also sunny and blazingly hot during the afternoon.

We have been sampling very close to some of the central processing platforms and using the ROV to verify the location of pipelines and observe the sampling equipment. The live video that the ROV provides has been very interesting. With the ROV we have observed many kinds of fish including parrot fish and a sting ray. The fish are often found hiding around the pipelines as this is the only place where corals grow. The ROV has also been able to observe the sampling equipment and determine if the sample is good before we bring it back to the surface. When the ROV operator is observing the vibrocorer he has been able to inform me over the radio the penetration depth of the core barrel so I know when to stop and recover the sample.

I have been working from noon to midnight so I am been enjoying nice sunsets, despite the fact that there is almost always a well platform or supply ship on the horizon. This oil and gas field continues to be developed quickly and I have noticed new structures this year that were not hear last. When I see a big thirst for oil and gas like this developing I am always wondering how long it will last. And what will we do when it is gone?  And when I say “we” I don’t mean the United States I mean the world.  Oil and gas exploration/exploitation is a global issue, I don’t want to sound too down trodden but I just can’t fathom how we will meet our future energy needs as oil and gas become less and less abundant. I suppose we will adapt and find alternatives as we will have no other choice, after all we are humans and that’s what we are good at - using our big brains to survive for millions of years and populate just about every corner of this planet.

September 10^th

We are headed into Songkla to offload the ROV and the ROV operators. Also departing will be the two operators of the sediment profile imaging (SPI) camera along with their equipment.  I haven’t talked about this piece of equipment yet but it is worth mentioning because I am very impressed with its design and performance. The SPI can be described as an upside down parascope.  The main components of the SPI are a downward looking digital camera mounted inside a pressure housing with a mirror and a glass plate. The SPI captures a photo of the sediment profile by probing down 8 to 10 inches into the seabed. Of course there is a lot more to the equipment to make it all possible but I won’t get into the details. The image the SPI captures can then be studied to learn about the sediment and the animals that live in it. Very cool!

It has continued to be clear, calm, and HOT! I have yet to find a thermometer on this vessel but some of the surveyors estimated it was 40C today. For me 40C might be just as bad as -40C especially when you are required to wear so much PPE. It feels like standing in a banya with all your closes on.  It doesn’t take long to become soaking wet from your own sweat. I am looking forward to the mild temperatures of fall in Seattle.

September 11^th

We are in port today. I was able to call Molly and check my email but other than that it is just another day on the boat. I won’t be going ashore as there is really no reason to do so and I don’t have a vehicle to get out of the port. By tonight we should be headed out again for the last few days of work. I am hoping we take on a little bit of fresh food but mostly I am hoping for some ice cream. The request was made to the “camp boss” in charge of the food orders so I will cross my fingers and check the freezer tonight.  Either way these last few days should go by quickly.

Hat Yai, Thailand

Airavata, a mythological three headed elephant who carries the Hindu god Indra

Waiting to board the cable car.

Cory practicing being Buddhist for an hour

Statue of Buddha

Budai (Laughing Buddha) at the Chinese Temple

Dried food at the Hat Yai market

Hat Yai market

I have returned to southern Thailand for the second year in a row to work on an environmental sampling project in the Gulf of Thailand. I am ready to head offshore but there has been a delay in preparing the remotely operated vehicle that will be used on the vessel, thus we found ourselves with entire free day to spend exploring the near by city of Hat Yai.

Suksan, a Tetra Tech employee who normally works in Bangkok was kind enough to be our guide.  We used a hired van and driver to take us to a few destinations.  The first stop was atop a small mountain overlooking the city of Hat Yai.  Here we visited a Hindu temple and then took a cable car to a Buddhist temple, from there we were able to walk partway down the mountain to a Chinese Temple. I was impressed that the temples of all of these eastern religions share the same mountain.

Suksan claimed he didn't know much about religion but explained to us that in Thailand many people feel it is important to respect all the peoples religion.  This of course sounds familiar, but in Thailand 95% of the people follow Buddhism, 5% Islam and less than 1% are Christan.  I found all of three of the temples we visited very friendly and inviting.  This is in contrast Christan churches both old and new I have visited in the the U.S. and elsewhere where I sometimes feel awkward, like I am intruding into a place I do not belong. 

Our next stop was the market in Hat Yai were we ate lunch and wandered down busy streets and narrow corridors browsing the vast selections of trinkets and food.  I don't think Hat Yai gets a lot of tourists so we got a lot of funny looks with us four white guys a head taller than anyone else wandered along.

Tomorrow we will board the survey vessel and if all goes well begin the sixteen hour transit to our first survey location.