Mystery as ghost ship is found floating off Myanmar after vanishing from radar more than NINE YEARS ago – and its crew are nowhere to be seen
- An empty vessel floating off the coast of Myanmar was found by fishermen
- The ship set sail nine years ago and none of the crew have been accounted for
- Navy personnel inspected the vessel but did not find any crew or goods
A ghost ship bearing an Indonesian flag has mysteriously reappeared off the coast of Myanmar after setting sail more than nine years ago.
Yangon Police confirmed that the cargo vessel, named ‘Sam Ratulangi PB 1600’, was floating 11 kilometres from land in the Gulf of Martaban when it was discovered by fishermen last week.
Real-time ship tracking website MarineTime last reported the 177-metre ship’s location as being off the coast of Taiwan, in the South China Sea, on June 3, 2009.
A ghost ship bearing an Indonesian flag mysteriously reappeared off the coast of Myanmar
Myanmar Navy personnel found no crew members or goods on board the ship
MarineTime last reported the ship’s location off the coast of Taiwan, in the South China Sea on June 3, 2009
What happened to cargo ship ‘Sam Ratulangi’?
2001: The ship is built in a port in Jakarta, Indonesia
June 2009: The ship vanishes from from off the coast of Taiwan
August 2018: Vessel is rediscovered floating in the Gulf of Martaban, Myanmar
Navy authorities have since discovered that the mysterious ship was in the middle of being towed from its home port of Jakarta to what was intended to be its final resting place – a ship-breaking factory in Bangladesh.
Crew on the tug-boat abandoned the vessel after encountering bad weather, the BBC reports.
Navy personnel found no crew members or goods on board the ship after an initial inspection. However, they have since confirmed in a Facebook post on September 1 that the empty vessel was being towed by another tugboat before becoming unmoored.
-
Fishing boat captain rescues four asylum seekers from Iran…
Tourist survives on a tiny Japanese island for two days…
Share this article
‘It was the view that the ship could have been towed by another ship after two cables… were found at its head’, a Myanmar Navy Facebook post explained.
Navy authorities have since located the tugboat that it was tied to, sailing 80 kilometres off Yangon city with 13 Indonesian crew members on board.
The Sam Ratulangi PB 1600 was a cargo vessel with a dead weight of 26,500 tonnes
The Myanmar Navy discovered that the cargo vessel had been moored to another ship after finding two cables at its head
The ship went off the radar off the coast of Taiwan in 2009 and was recently found by fishermen floating in the Gulf of Martaban
After speaking to crew members, navy personnel learnt that the ship, named ‘Independence’, had set sail from Jakarta on August 13. It was bound for a ship-breaking factory in Bangladesh with the cargo vessel in tow.
Once there, the ship’s parts would have most likely been sold for re-use.
According to the Myanmar Navy’s Facebook post, the ship encountered bad weather south of Yangon river. This resulted in the cargo vessel, which had a dead weight 26,500 tonnes, becoming detached.
Investigations are ongoing.
Source: Read Full Article