Mystery behind Myanmar ‘ghost ship’ unravelled

The Sam Ratulangi PB 1600

The mystery behind a mysterious ‘ghost ship’ found in Myanmar has finally been unravelled.

Christened Sam Ratulangi PB 1600, the rusty vessel was discovered by fishermen near the Yangon region on Thursday.

Baffled by its appearance, authorities boarded the vessel searching for clues as to where it originated from.

According to BBC, Myanmar’s navy revealed that the vessel was being towed to a ship-breaking factory in Bangladesh before being abandoned by the crew of a tug boat after being caught up in bad weather.

Last sighting

According to AFP, the vessel was last recorded in 2009 off the coast of Taiwan.

Built in 2001, the ship which is over 179 metres long was found without goods or seamen aboard.

In November last year, a wooden boat with eight decomposing bodies washed up on a beach in Japan.

While inspecting the vessel, officials found the remains of the doomed boat, some of them reduced to bones.

The wooden boat

It was believed that that the "ghost ship" was a North Korean fishing boat.