Typhoon slams Chuuk, on track to hit Yap harder

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I'm a bit confused. Was there no warning? How is it that Siren and Odyssey were damaged on reef?
 
Received an update from Siren:

The worst of the storm has now passed and fortunately we had no guests onboard at the time and crew disembarked and are safe on land. Typhoon Maysak has, however, had an impact on the lives of others with several deaths reported on the island, therefore our thoughts and best wishes are with those people and we wish those injured a speedy recovery.
It is though with regret that we must also announce that the Truk Siren along with several other vessels, including at least one other liveaboard vessel, has sustained some serious damage and will require immediate attention. We commend our crew and entire team for the decisive actions made to secure our yacht however the severity and speed of the storm proved beyond our efforts.
Our local operational team is making ready to assess the damage however we do not know at this time for how long the Truk Siren will be out of operation. Frank van der Linde is en-route to Truk as we speak and though we are hoping for the best at this point, we cannot offer any firm updates on future cruises. As always, safety is the number one priority and every check will be made before further decisions are made.
Our head office team is already in contact with guests who are due to join the Truk Siren and in an effort to ensure minimal disruption will be assisting guests with making alternative arrangements. Mark Shandur has returned early from a family holiday in Sri Lanka to oversee this process.

I'm a bit confused. Was there no warning? How is it that Siren and Odyssey were damaged on reef?

I can only guess the anchor/mooring gave.
 
Ummm. It was a typhoon. Hard to make a boat "safe" during a typhoon or hurricane. Remember Sandy? 10,000 boats in "safe harbor" destroyed?
 
Ummm. It was a typhoon. Hard to make a boat "safe" during a typhoon or hurricane. Remember Sandy? 10,000 boats in "safe harbor" destroyed?

+1 to what Frank said. I was on a boat inland as Hurricane Ike passed overhead and even being inland there was considerable damage to nearby vessels.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The typhoon is now category 4 and still heading toward Yap and possibly the Philippines

http://www.weather.com/storms/typhoon/news/typhoon-maysak-yap-philippines-pacific

More about the impact on Chuuk and the recovery efforts:
Marianas Variety - Chuuk hit hard by Typhoon Maysak

---------- Post added March 30th, 2015 at 03:11 PM ----------

Facebook posts from the Odyssey:

https://www.facebook.com/trukodyssey

Odyssey Adventures, Truk Lagoon
4 hrs ·
This is Cara Kolczynski, Vice President of Odyssey Adventures, posting. I know there are many people with questions regarding our boat, Chuuk, the crew, future bookings, etc. I will share with you what we know as of right now. My husband, Captain Lenny Kolczynski, is on his way to Chuuk. The airport had been closed but United Airlines has added an additional flight into Chuuk Tuesday evening which Lenny hopes to catch. Once he arrives, we will have a better understanding of what we are dealing with. I know Cliff, in our office is deluged with emails and phone calls with everyone trying to get answers. Please give us a couple of days to figure out exactly what we are dealing with. We do not have answers right now. We pride ourselves on being a company that does the right thing for our customers. We will do the right thing, but we aren't sure exactly what that is yet. Until Lenny gets out there and assesses the boat, we won't have any answers. He will arrive into Chuuk either Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning (Tues am or Tues pm in the states). I do know it is a mess out there right now. Storms generally begin in our area and then head off and become stronger. It is unusual that they are this strong in Chuuk. Chuuk's infrastructure is not designed well to withstand storms such as this. The main road from what I understand is impassable right now for cars. There is power outages, there is a lot of damage and there has been loss of lives. We are trying to make sure our entire crew (including the ones who were not on the vessel during the storm) are all ok. I personally will post updates as I get them and once I hear from Lenny. Again, please give Cliff a small break as he is having an additional family emergency of his own that he is dealing with in addition to this. If you are a praying person, please say a prayer or many for Chuuk, everyone involved in this, our vessel, Captain Lenny and everyone who will be stepping up to assist him in Chuuk. Also this storm is not finished. It is heading off to parts of Guam and Yap and possibly onto the Philippines. Let all those preparing for this storm be safe. One last note on a personal level. Our Chuukese crew are our family. They always have been and they always will be. I pray that every single one of them are safe and I thank them all from the bottom of my heart for being my family and love them all dearly

Odyssey Adventures, Truk Lagoon
4 hrs ·
On Sunday 29th March the islands of Chuuk took a direct hit from Typhoon Maysak. Fortunately we had no guests on board at the time. The crew disembarked and are safe on land. Sadly there were several deaths reported on the island. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families. We also sadly report that the Odyssey, along with several other vessels, has been seriously damaged. Our team is beginning the process of assessing the damage, however we do not know at this time how long the Odyssey will be out of operation. At this point, we are unable to offer any firm updates on future cruises. Our office team is in the process of contacting the guests who were due to join the Odyssey in the near future.
We will provide additional updates as more information becomes available. We appreciate your patience and understanding

Odyssey Adventures, Truk Lagoon
5 hrs ·
Stay tuned for reports about Typhoon Maysak, which passed through Truk Lagoon last night. We'll be posting updates on our website as we receive them.
 
I am on Chuuk right now. I was on Odyssey last week, disembarked a few hours before storm hit. Reports of Thorfinn missing were from immediately after the storm when those of us at Blue Lagoon could not see her where she previously had been. She has since been seen moving under her own power.

All crew and passengers of Odyssey and Siren ok, except captain of Siren sustained a concussion and a bad gash to the head. Saw him yesterday and he looked ok. Odyssey last I heard stuck on reef with melon sized hole in her, engine room partially flooded, rudder gone and props damaged. Locals stole the skiff. I heard Siren was trashed by locals but do not know about storm damage. Blue Lagoon ok, heard Truk Stop ok. Not sure about damage to the islands but I heard it was pretty bad.


Still waiting on flights to resume. Internet here very sporadic and slow so don't know how quickly or often I'll be able to reply to this thread.
 
Just had visitors from Truk Stop here at Thorfinn - they're fine, bar some damage to the jetty. The town is pretty torn up and 4 deaths reported - which pales everything else less significant - let's be on the lookout for ways to contribute to the relief effort
 
Truk Siren update:

Typhoon Maysak has now passed Truk completely and the clean-up and recovery operations are now in progress. Partner and CEO Frank van der Linde arrived in Truk this afternoon to oversee operations on the ground and we are now back in reliable contact with our local operations team and so we are in much better position to update a little more clearly. Most importantly Siren Fleet has been very lucky in the sense that all members of our crew are safe and well, our thoughts continue to be with the people of Truk who have suffered injury and loss of life and property. Our thoughts are also with the people of Yap, who are currently in the path of Typhoon Maysak.

truksiren02.jpg


Power is mostly restored to Truk and flights are now in operation so our guests who were disembarked prior to the storm are leaving the island today. We would like to take this opportunity to thank them on behalf of everyone here at Siren Fleet for their kindness and support during this time. We would also like to say a huge thank you to everyone at Blue Lagoon Resort and Truk Stop for their continuing support!!

With regard to Truk Siren, the crew, has been out to visit her and we now know she is currently sat upright on a shallow reef, along with 5 other vessels, and has suffered significant damage from the storm. There is water in the engine room, damage to the prop & masts, and the rudder is missing along with other structural damage which Frank is now assessing with a view to the long term prognosis.

truksiren03.jpg


We are also hugely sad to report that though we have received huge support from many people in Truk over the last few days (indeed weeks and months), that we are hugely grateful for, it seems there is always a bad element in any society and there has been massive internal damage caused by looting, something that all the stranded boats have suffered from. Throughout the entire boat, fixtures, fittings, electrical items, furniture and anything that you might be able to think of have been stolen or destroyed beyond repair. There is also wanton destruction with graffiti, smashed windows throughout the boat and much more.

We still cannot say anything concrete about the future of the boat, however, it seems clear to us at this point that bringing in not only the materials required to fix the storm damage to such a remote location, but also all the fixtures and fittings to bring her back up to her previous best is an enormous task.

Worldwide Dive and Sail would like to thank everyone for their support and offers of assistance over the last 24 hours. We will continue to update you all on progress over the coming days and weeks.
 
Thanks Wookie. I had actually misunderstood. Was relieved to hear neither boat had passengers aboard. I'm so sorry to learn of the damage, especially that caused by the "bad" element. :(
 
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