The Ghost Ship: Mary Celeste

On December 5th 1872, the Mary Celeste, an American merchant ship, was found adrift, some 400 nautical miles into the Atlantic sea with no crew on board. The ship was intact, meals were left untouched and there were no signs of struggle and violence onboard. The last entry in the ship’s log was dated November 25th, which showed no trouble. So what really happened to the 10 crew members which, by the looks of it, seem to have vanished in thin air?

Numerous theories sparked from the brightest minds all over the world, but some things did not add up in every other hypothesis. 

This ship was built in 1861 and was first named the Amazon. Ever since, it has encountered a number of mishaps before being titled the ‘Ghost Ship’. During one of its former voyages, the captain got pneumonia and died, and the ship was found damaged several times, especially in October 1867 in Cape Breton Island. The following year, the ship was sold to Richard W. Haines who renamed it ‘Mary Celeste’. He made several mechanical changes to the ship and then eventually sold it to Benjamin S. Briggs. On November 7, 1872, the Mary Celeste was destined to set sail from New York Harbour on its way to the Italian city of Genoa with more than 1,700 barrels of alcohol to be delivered. Captain Briggs, his wife, Sarah, and their 2 year old daughter, Sophia, along with seven other crew members were on board. Over the next two weeks, the ship experienced harsh weather conditions, including storms. Then, ten days later, the British vessel Dei Gratia spotted the deserted ship and the crew went over. They found nothing except for the Captain Brigg’s crew’s personal belongings. However, they did notice that a longboat was missing. The Mary Celeste was brought back for the British authorities to conduct an investigation but nothing arose and no evidence supported the disappearance of the crew members. 

This mystery attracted some attention but it became famous after well-known Arthur Conan Doyle published a short story about a survivor on the vessel. It conveyed ideas about a revenge-seeking former enslaved person who killed the passengers. Many theories based on violence were put forward like an explosion caused by alcoholic fumes, but they were gradually declined as there was no sign of murder and piracy based on the evidence and thorough investigations. However, there was a more believable theory which was announced, talking about the ship taking in too much water which caused it to sink. The sounding rod (a device used to determine the amount of water in the hold) was discovered on the deck which could suggest its usage before abandonment. Furthermore, one of the ship’s pumps was disassembled suggesting some trouble. A faulty reading and broken pump was enough to support this idea.

Till this day, the mystery of the Mary Celeste is of interest to detectives and the fate of the vessel has not been solved.