The "King Cruiser" was on its normal route from Phuket to Phi
Phi Island. The weather was perfectly fine. It was a bright, partially clouded
day. The sea lay calm, there was no wind. Everything was business as usual...
until the ship all of a sudden hit an undersea rock, gently shuddered to a halt
and began to take water in trough a hole in one of the catamaran's twin hulls.
Slowly, the big ferry began to sink.
The sinking process took an hour
or so. All passengers, there were more than 600, were brought to safety. There
was plenty of time for the rescue operation and no panic at all, as the surprised
travelers watched the big ferry sink to the bottom of the Andaman Sea, only 30
meters down under their life-boats.
There is nothing like the thrill of
diving into a wreck. Nobody can free himself of the spell that haunts a sunken
ship. Imagination runs wild, as one meanders through the furniture and outcrops,
as one swims from one room to another. The "King Cruiser" is an easy dive. The
ship has large openings that grant the divers easy access to the spacey interior.
For divers the "King Cruiser" is a sensational and wonderful opportunity
to study the process of marine life-forms taking possession of a new part of their
environment. Huge schools of colorful fish are already occupying the ship. Groupers
guard the holes and crevices. Even the sedentary settlers - shells and corals
- have begun to move in.
Conveniently, the "King Cruiser" has seated itself
in upright position in fairly shallow waters. The steering house hovers just 10
meters under the surface. The propellers (deepest point) rest 30 meters deep.
Therefore, Divers who have never dived a wreck before can enjoy the supreme fascination
of wreck-exploring! The most interesting areas are the pasenger decks between
10 and 20 meters.
The ship was built in Japan 30 years ago and plowed
the sea between Phuket and Phi Phi island until she sunk on the 4th. of Mai 1997.
She was a comfortable catamaran-hull passenger-cruiser with 4 decks. Gross Tonnage:
3,000 tons. Length: 85 m. Width: 25 m. Depth: 8 m. Engine capacity:10,000 Hp.
Max.Speed: 22 knots. Passenger Capacity: 888.
