It has been dubbed a ‘ghost ship.’ A rusting, deserted cargo vessel bearing the Indonesian flag has been found drifting off the coast of Myanmar.
Police in Yangon reported that fisherman came across the ship, bearing the name “Sam Rataulangi PB 1600,” floating in the Gulf of Martaban about 11 kilometers, or seven miles, from the shore of Myanmar’s commercial capital.
State-run media said that the vessel was being towed to neighboring Bangladesh.
Authorities and navy personnel boarded the ship early this week to investigate the situation, a Yangon police statement posted on Facebook revealed.
“[The ship was] stranded on the beach [and it was] bearing an Indonesian flag,” the statement said. “There was no sailors or goods on the vessel.”
According to the Marine Traffic website, which lists the movements of ships around the globe, the vessel was built in 2001 and had a deadweight of 26,500 tonnes.
The ship’s transponder last reported its location off the coast of Taiwan in 2009.
This is the first reported instance of an abandoned ship appearing in Myanmar’s waters.
Old and unseaworthy vessels are often towed to Bangladesh’s southern Chittagong province, which houses a thriving, and controversial, ship-breaking industry.
Reporting by AFP
Nurun Nabi
Just walk the streets and ask people and get the questions