Odyssea 1 decomissoned after heavy storm damage

For those of you who like us have been on this fantastic liveaboard (and worse, for those who were planning and dreaming to go), this is terrible news:

MV Odyssea 1 was badly damaged in a very bad storm on Sunday evening. As such, we will not be able to provide liveaboard services with immediate effect and all cruises chartered or booked are cancelled.

She returned safely to Manado on Saturday morning after a successful season in Raja Ampat from Sorong. There were no guests onboard when the accident occurred as we were preparing for docking. The crew are all fine and are safely back on land.

In the mid afternoon of Sunday (11 May), she was moored off Wori Bay in front of our resort (Cocotinos) in preparation for docking. During this time, the weather was turning with very strong winds coming from the north-west coupled with big waves forming and the tide going low. The captain decided that it was safer to move to a better-sheltered lagoon in Lantung where we normally go to during adverse weather such as the one we experienced on Sunday.

Upon approaching the lagoon, the engines failed with attempts to restart it futile and the anchor was dropped immediately by the captain. At this point, the big waves took her closer to the reef but without the anchor securing on the seabed, she was pushed on to the top of the reef by the storm which resulted in severe damage to the hull.

Further extensive damage was done by the constant and relentless pounding of the waves while she was trapped on the reef. At first light, we inspected her and had to acknowledge that she is no longer seaworthy and beyond economical repair.

The weather has been unpredictable of late, with the cyclone in Myanmar on 3rd May and typhoon Rammasun in the Philippines last week. The irony is that we could rescue others a few days earlier on our way back from Sorong but could not avoid a disaster ourselves. The forces of nature are greater than us. We had made two rescues, starting with a family in a small boat that flipped over and they were drifting for 12 hours before we spotted them. We dropped them off at their village at Kofiau and continued our return journey. After passing Halmahera, we seeked an SOS call from a cargo vessel which had a broken shaft and was drifting for 4 days in the Moluccas sea. We brought all 9 of the crew onboard and continued our journey, bringing them back safely to Manado with Odyssea 1 and her crew a day later than scheduled.

We are now in the process of informing all the charterers and individuals who have booked anyone of our cruises of the cancellation. We have also set up a team to help provide alternatives and assistance to all that are affected in the interest of finding a speedy and amicable solution.

Contributed by Tim Hochgrebe added 2008-05-13

Replies of 3

Tim Hochgrebe added 2008-05-19

We have had some encouraging news, that maybe Odyssea I can be revived after all:

Dear Associates, Clients and Friends

Thank you all for the encouraging and supportive messages. It is has been encouraging to know that we have introduced a liveaboard that has left so many good impressions with all who have been on her. For those who have not, and have been looking so forward to experiencing MV Odyssea 1, there may be some hope as I have been advised by our insurers that they will recover her to dock for a comprehensive survey. The inspection will determine the final cost required to repair her back to seaworthiness and the insurers will decide and advise us once they have received the quotations from tenderers. At the moment the boat is still on the reef and we are working closely with the port masters and salvaging companies.

We hope that we will be able to repair her back to seaworthiness, so that we can put her back in the waters and resume providing the quality of service everyone has come to talk about. However, we must bear in mind that the repair, if feasible, would be extensive and will take a months.

>From everyone here at Odyssea, we'd like to thank you once again for the well wishes and continuous support over the last week. We will be updating you constantly. Warmest regards

Andrew Lok Managing Director Odyssea Asia Pte Ltd

Tim Hochgrebe added 2008-07-25

Looks like this IS the end of a great liveaboard.

On 26 July Andrew writes:

Dear Friends, Clients and Associates

After weeks of working with our insurance and the salvagers, finally I am able to offer a final update to everyone.

We have been informed by our insurers that MV Odyssea 1 cannot be salvaged and has been declared a total loss. As such, we are now awaiting settlement of our insurance claims.

For the moment, we are concentrating our resources on developing a new resort and dive operation in south-west Lombok, an area that is still relatively untainted, with stunning white-sand beaches and idyllic small islands. We have now obtained all the necessary permits to build the resort and will be breaking ground in mid September, 2008. We hope to open in late 2009.

As for the liveaboard, we will not be looking at any plans for the replacement of Odyssea 1 until the insurance claims are settled. In any event, we will aim at finishing our resort in Lombok before considering a new liveaboard.