As widely reported in the Press and on TV this unique wreck, which had stood upright on the seabed for nearly seven years, pulled her stern free from the five metres of seabed in which she was embedded and re-floated herself. This happened because the heavy load of gas slowly leaked and lightened the hull.

The barnacle encrusted bow, looking like a set from a horror movie, grew taller each day as the ship slowly drifted like a latter-day Marie Celeste, heading for Cambodia.

With the forward gas tank clear of the water the wreck was now a floating bomb if she should be struck by another vessel.

After a month or so fruitless wrangling to find out who was responsible for the wreck the Royal Thai Navy decided to tow the ship to a new site where she could be sunk as an artificial reef and tourist attraction.

But they were dealing with a ship that seemed to have a mind of it's own.

It took five fighting ships manned by 300 men and two powerful tugs 32 hours to drag the partially submerged wreck more than 100 miles until it was nearer to the mainland and not far from the popular tourist island of Koh Samet.

The VW had started her last voyage carrying 600,000 litres of highly explosive LPG. So, to minimise damage to the marine life, which refused to desert the ship even while being towed, they decided the best way to sink her would be to rip off the pipework connecting the two tanks to allow the remaining gas to leak.

But the Vertical Wreck decided otherwise and the steel cables snapped. Round One to the VW.

Divers went down and attached four, six inch diametre cables to a single 20inch pipe. The tugs jerked the lines tight to rip out the huge pipe and once more the cables snapped. Round two to the VW.

The following morning, March 6, as if to show her contempt for the men trying to scuttle her she had risen even further out of the water so that her bow stood 16m clear.

As nine of the crew of 11 perished when the ship sank during a storm in August 1996, a religious ceremony was held to honour their spirits. The divers fixed four high-explosive charges to the gas tanks.

Then Admiral Oknit, in charge of the operation, pressed the red button and...nothing. The explosive failed to detonate. Round three to the VW

Four more charges were set; a second religious ceremony was held. This may have been more useful in allaying the fears of the Navy men who were beginning to suspect that the VW was haunted by the dead seamen.

When the admiral pressed the button this time there was a huge explosion and an equally huge cloud of gas which forced the navy to withdraw ten miles upwind while it dispersed.

When they returned the VW was still floating. Divers went down to inspect the results of the explosion and found that only one of the two tanks had blown up. Then they began to experience severe skin irritation due to the leaking gas and had to abort the dive. Round four to the VW.

Ten hours later the gas remaining in the last tank had emptied. Now the lightened wreck towered 30m proud of the water threatening to plunge down on her tormentors in a last act of defiance. But the fight was almost over.

Cables were fixed to her bow and the tugs pulled her so that she toppled over and for the first time since that fateful night in August 1996 she sat in her natural position on the surface.

As she slowly began to settle divers went aboard in an unsuccessful search for human remains and then she sank.

But even then, this amazing ship showed her last bit of determination and settled proudly upright on her keel rather than rolling on her side as so many ships do.

A Thai Navy spokesman said that they had never previously salavaged a ship of this size. The operation cost the Thai Government more than US$50,000 and took 120 hours to complete.

First Dive report...

By Steve Burton PADI Master Instructor and DSAT Tech Instructor

Because the wreck is in a different location; has been towed; blown up by explosives and is now lying down, divers who were familiar with the Vertical Wreck should be very cautious and treat it as a new wreck with unknown hazards.

The ship's new location is 30miles offshore near Koh Samet island. This means that it is still necessary to do an overnight trip from Pattaya to dive it.

She is lying in 42m in the "sailing" position, which leaves the remaining decking on bow and stern at 30m. 

You begin your descent in clear blue water. At 25m the first dark outline of the wreck is just visible. But a thermocline just above the decks rapidly knocks the viz down to around 5m. This might be a seasonal thing and with luck conditions will improve during other months.

The Thai Navy reported that only the forward gas tank exploded, but none of our dive team could find the second one - just two gaping holes. Could we all have been that narked?

It's a bit eerie dropping drop down into these voids to the bare hull.

But if you do go down there then every movement needs great care to avoid stirring up the silt and completely blacking out the visibility.

Jagged parts of the superstructure and tangles of cables and fishing lines overhang the holes left by the tanks and could be a problem if you tried a vertical ascent to get out of the silt.

The Thai navy have said they will blow the wreck clean with power jets but whether or not this will provide a long-term solution is anyone's guess.

If you swim down the deck towards the stern, the bridge and cabin area suddenly appear in good visibility as they stand above the thermocline.  This is probably the best part of the wreck for divers. The bridge area is easy to see into and penetrate - provided you have the training, the experience and sufficient air and enough no-deco time left!

Continuing towards the stern there are more penetration points to the engine room and the crew's cabins, but this area is strictly for the experts. The stern winches and other deck gear have collected a lot of angler's lines which are very hard to see.

Combine these lines with the ship's cables and other debris and this part of the wreck is definitely a no-go area for the inexperienced. The best way to end the dive is to return to the bridge and follow the mast up to the crow's nest which sits at 20m.

VERDICT

It seems a bit unfair to knock a wreck when it's down, but the new Horizontal Wreck is not in the same league as the Vertical Wreck.

The attraction of the wreck when she stood upright was her uniqueness. This was a wreck-cum-wall dive in wonderfully clear, blue, warm water surrounded by loads of tame marine life.

Previously with the only penetration point at 55m the danger points were out of the reach for all except the most highly trained divers. Now, sports divers might plan to dive to the wheelhouse or bow and then go deeper - either accidentally or deliberately. 

Although the dive time on air is severely restricted if you go to the bottom of the hull, it's still worthwhile for nitrox divers. On 28% 02 you'd get 20minutes bottom time.

On the plus side there are some good sites not far from the new location which don't get dived too often and they could be included on the outing.

Will we dive it? 

If sufficient numbers of divers with the necessary experience want to go there then of course we will.