Navy ship hits drawbridge, mast loose

The accident, which occurred while the ship was passing under the drawbridge, was blamed on miscalculation of the clearance during the rising tide. The crash caused the vessel’s mast to become loose from its base.
There was no report of injuries or a damage estimate.
The HTMS Surin, a landing ship under the Royal Thai Fleet, was on its way back to its base at the Naval Dockyard Department in Samut Prakan after undergoing routine maintenance and repair work at Bangkok Dock Company, according to the Navy’s spokesman Admiral Jumpol Lumpiganoon.

He said both the ship’s personnel and the company’s staff followed the international procedure in towing the HTMS Surin past the bridge. But forceful wind gusts and strong currents at that time made it difficult for the towboat to navigate while the ship was passing the bridge. The ship was pushed off the course, which resulted in the accident, according to the spokesman.

The damage to the ship’s mast and the bridge was “minimal”, he said, adding that Bangkok Dock would cover the cost of repairing the bridge and the Navy would get the ship repaired. 
A fact-finding committee has been set up to determine measures in order to prevent similar accidents in the future, the Navy spokesman said.
The naval ship, commissioned in December 1987, is 112.5 metres long, 15.4 metres wide and 7.8 metres high. Its mast is 21.2 metres high.

Krungthep Bridge, opened since June 1959, was the second bridge to be built across the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok.