Ghost ship reappears 9 years after it was lost

A ship that was lost in 2009 in the Pacific Ocean mysteriously reappeared in the Indian Ocean last week. People are calling it a ghost ship. An immediate explanation has been forwarded but that seems to be an attempt to quell wild speculations.

The container was last seen off Taiwan coast in 2009. When it was last spotted, the ship was flying the Indonesian flag. It sailed from Taiwan but all contacts with the ship were lost nine years ago. The authorities in the littoral countries believed that the ship was lost to the vast ocean.

But, the ship named, Sam Ratulangi PB 1600, suddenly reappeared south of Myanmar in the Indian Ocean on August 30. It was spotted by some fishermen from a Myanmarese village called, Thama Seitta. The fishermen saw the ship aground at a sandbar some 11 km off the coast.

The fishermen entered the ghost ship but found none aboard. The ship was empty. They informed the coastal police. The Myanmar Navy was informed. The officials inspected the ship and had no clue where this ship came from.

"No crew or cargo was found on the ship. It was quite puzzling how such a big ship turned up in our waters," the Myanmar Times quoted U Ne Win Yangon, a Myanmarese MP, as saying.

The paper also quoted general secretary of the Independent Federation of Myanmar Seafarers, U Aung Kyaw Linn as saying that the vessel was still in running condition. Linn said, "In my opinion, the ship was recently abandoned. There must be a reason (why it was abandoned)."

Reports say that the ghost ship is 177.35 metre-long and 27.91 metre-wide. The container weighs 26,510 tons and was built in 2001.

Ship named Sam Ratulangi PB 1600 was noticed at a sandbar by fishermen from a Myanmar village. (Photo: Facebook/Yangon Police)

Some other reports from Myanmar say that the mysterious appearance of the ghost ship has been solved. These reports claim that the ship was meant to be dismantled at a ship-wreaking factory at Chittagong port in Bangladesh. The ship got detached from the ship-wreaking factory and drifted towards Myanmar.

However, there has been no explanation as to how this ship that last spotted in 2009 off Taiwan coast ended up at a Chittagong ship-wreaking factory. Mystery about the ghost ship remains unanswered.

Interestingly, many unexpected boats and vessels have been found in Asian waters. Some of them were found without anyone aboard while a few others had corpse when these boats were discovered. In 2015, 11 wooden boats were spotted in the Sea of Japan. Some of the boats were empty and damaged, while some others had dead bodies numbering up to 20.