In St. Valentine day, RTN launch its new ship called ‘Thursday’, HTMS Pharuehatsabodi.
Love is all around on that day.
In 2006, RTN awarded the contact for building the survey ship to the consortium between UniThai Shipyard Engineering Co., Ltd. and Schelde Naval Shipbuilding from Netheralnds. The keel-laying ceremony was done on 24 Aug 2006 in UniThai dockyard in Chon Buri province.
It’s take about one and a half year to complete this project and 14 Feb 2008 is the day that the ship will be on the sea for the first time.
Why this day? It’s Thais belief that there are some good day to do something in the year. If you pick the wrong day you will got a bad luck. It’s a little bit astrology here.
Why named ‘Thursday’? It’s a RTN regulation of ship naming. The survey ship will be named by the name of star. The word ‘Pharuehatsabodi’ is the word for ‘Thursday’ and the word for ‘Jupiter’.
The information of the ship.
Length: 66 meters
Beam: 13.20 meters
Draught: 3.25 meters
Displacement: 1,344 Tons and 1,636 Tons full loaded
Speeds: 12 Knots
Endurance: 3,000 nautical miles at 10 Knots
HTMS Pharuehatsabodi will be used as a survey ship in the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman sea. RTN also uses this ship as a training ship and in the environmental mission. In the war time, HTMS Pharuehatsabodi wil be used as a mine-clearing ship.
