A gigantic “ghost ship” that vanished for nine years before being discovered drifting empty close to Myanmar has finally had its mystery resolved.
Fishermen discovered the rusted container ship, Sam Ratulangi PB 1600, in the Gulf of Martaban, off the coast of Yangon, the main city in the southeast Asian state.
Investigators from the Myanmar Navy were dispatched to investigate the reason of its unexpected appearance.
After boarding the ship, they conducted a preliminary inspection and discovered no crew or cargo.
Subsequent investigations showed that a tugboat had been dragging the 177-meter-long vessel in the direction of a shipbreaking facility in Bangladesh.
However, due to terrible weather, the crew was apparently forced to break cables with the ship, which weighed 26,500 tonnes dead.
Then they made the decision to give it up.
After authorities questioned 13 crew members from the tugboat known as the Independence, all of this became clear.
In 2009, the ship’s last known position was off the coast of Taiwan.
Muhammad Iqbal, who serves as the director at the Indonesian Department of Citizen’s Protection, clarified, “It has nothing to do with the Government … it was towed to Bangladesh for scraps by a tug boat with a Singaporean flag.”
The Myanmar Navy confirmed that the Independence encountered severe weather conditions south of the Yangon River.
According to a spokesperson, “The cables attached to the ship broke, and the ship was floating along with the tide and it was difficult to continue its journey.”
The state’s Department of Marine Administration was also reportedly involved in investigating the mystery surrounding the boat’s fate.
The Sam Rataulangi, which was built in 2001, is listed on the Marine Traffic website, which tracks the movements of ships globally.
Mysterious ships have often been spotted suddenly appearing on the high seas. For instance, it was reported that in January, 104 ghost ships, many carrying deceased sailors who had escaped from North Korea, washed up on the shores of Japan in the previous year.
