Underwater Learning Site Project

Final Mission of Battleships: A Beginning of Hope for New Lives

Back in 2010, the seawater temperature stayed over 30.5 degrees Celsius for a long period of time resulted in widespread coral bleaching under the Thai seas.

At marine scientists' meeting organised by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources to deliberate on how to tackle the situation, one recommendation was to build "Man-made dive sites". Because studies had found that when a natural coral reef becomes popular among divers, it tends to be heavily affected. However, closing natural dive sites or forbidding people from visiting the coral reefs would affect the local people's income in the tourism industry. In this situation, creating alternative dive sites would reduce the negative impact on natural coral reefs and allow them time to recover from bleaching.

While different structures can be used to build man-made diving sites, whether they are train carriages, planes or tanks, ships remain the most popular in Thailand, the navy laid H.T.M.S. Kram and H.T.M.S. Kut on the seabed in Chonburi Province in 2003.

As an operator of petroleum E&P projects in Thailand, PTTEP threw its support behind "the Under Water Learning Site Project" by studying and developing methods to transform former battleships to be underwater tourist attractions in Chumphon and Surat Thani Provinces. The project is a collaborative effort with various agencies including the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, Chumphon and Surat Thani administrations, local business operators and communities as well as the Royal Thai Navy and Kasetsart University's Department of Fishery served as the project's major driving force.

For this project, the Navy offered two suitably sized decommissioned ships for the project, namely H.T.M.S. Prab and H.T.M.S. Sattakut. Their histories themselves are impressive destinations for divers as wreck dive sites.

"H.T.M.S.Prad" and "H.T.M.S.Sattakut" are classified as Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) and 50 metres long. They were Commissioned in 1947, played a part in landing operations, Patrols and rescue operations for fisherman involved in accidents at sea, and served as teaching vessels for the Navy cadets going through navigation and weaponry courses until 2006.

The important criterion for the man-made dive site is the location: it must reduce impacts on the coral reef. That means the chosen location must be conveniently accessible to divers, and not too far from natural coral reefs which are known tourist attractions either.

Hence, before two former battleships were scuttled on the seabed, discussion was held with various agencies and stakeholders. To find out the most suitable place to rest the ships, the studies on the underwater ecology and marine life diversity were conducted before and after sinking and studied the sea currents, visibility, topography and the number of marine animals. Koh Tao, Surat Thani Province and Koh Ngam Noi, Chumporn Province fit all the criteria.

For ten years, these two battleships are being recognized to serve as artificial coral reefs. A wealth of marine biodiversity at the sites has eventually attracted divers and tourists to learn more about the history of Thai battleships. This has generated jobs and income for local communities and businesses approximately Baht 59 million per year from more than 28,000 visitors per year. PTTEP has carried out analysis on Social Return on Investment (SROI) of this project by measuring social and environmental outcomes, compared to the value from project investment of time, money and other resources. It appears that the value of the SROI ratio is 5.34:1.

Whale shark, the biggest fish in the ocean can be spotted around H.T.M.S.Prab, especially during April - September

The two "training battleships" from the Thai Navy have helped protect the integrity of the Thai seas beyond all expectations.

Under Water Learning Site Project received many international awards including Green World Awards 2023 (The United States of America), Gulf Sustainability Awards 2021 (Silver) Best Community Development (The United Arab Emirates), Global CSR award 2020 - Platinum Winner (India), Stevie Award (Silver) Innovation in Community Relations (Singapore), Best CSR Campaign (Indonesia), Best Environmental Excellence Award – Gold (Indonesia) and Green Leadership (Philippines).

Based on the success of the two decommissioned Royal Thai Navy battleships in enhancing biodiversity and human utility, PTTEP initiated the Undersea Sculpture project. This initiative is a collaborative effort involving various stakeholders from the government, academic, and public sectors, including the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR), Kasetsart University, Silpakorn University, Koh Tao Municipality, the Koh Tao Tourism Association, and the Koh Tao Conservation Group.

The "Ocean for Life" Sculpture Gallery, located at the Buoyancy site in Koh Tao, was launched in April 2026. This site features 9 sculptures of rare marine animals, 4 coral balls, and 80 dome-shaped corals, covering a total area of 10,000 square meters. Following the installation, biodiversity surveys will be conducted to establish a baseline for future monitoring.