There are lots of mysterious, unexpected, and in-explainable occurrences and haunted seafaring stories in the world of maritime. Fascinating stories or events that can wow or spook you, depending on what you choose to believe. Tales of ghost ships have existed for as long as any of us can remember. Some of these stories have no proof to back them up. hence, it can be referred to as fiction, while others truly exist with tangible proofs to back them up.

We will be making a list of the top 5 mysterious ghost ships and the stories behind them.

• FLYING DUTCHMAN

This is the most famous ghost ship of them all. Ghostship stories in the world of maritime can never be completed without the mention of the Flying Dutchman. The ship was said to have been captained by Captain Hendrick Vanderdecken, who served with the Dutch East India company. On this particular day in the year 1641, he was returning from the East Indies with some loaded goods and his crew members on board. He headed back to Amsterdam (his home) when they encountered a ravaging tempest around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Rather than returning from whence he came to avoid the storm, he was bent on continuing his voyage to Amsterdam, refusing to be intimidated by the storm, despite the pleas and warnings of some of his crew. Unfortunately for him, the storm was twice as stubborn as him and ended up sinking the ship with everyone and everything on board.

According to the story about the Flying Dutchman, the Captain and his crew’s souls have been damned and cursed to continue sailing and never make port.

The haunted ship has been reported to be sighted by some seafarers in bad weather conditions and is also said to be a bad omen for whoever sees it.

• MARY CELESTE

Unlike some of the other ghost ship stories in the marine world, that are probably folklore, Mary Celeste, and the stories surrounding her are very real. No one knows what went down with the ship because there was no survivor to tell the story when the ship was found.

In 1872, the ship was found floating in the Atlantic Ocean, in a very good condition. The ship’s contents, including over 1600 alcohol barrels, were intact, but a lifeboat, the Captain’s logbook, and sadly, all the crew members were nowhere to be found.

Mary Celeste was on a voyage from New York to Genoa on November 7, 1872, with 10 ship crew, including the Captain, Benjamin Briggs, his wife, child. It was found drifting around Azore by Dei Gratia, a British ship on December 5, 1872, and it was discovered that the last written entry on the ship’s log was done 11 days before the ship was spotted.

Different speculations and guesses have been made concerning the ship’s crew’s disappearance, but no one knows for sure what happened to the Captain, his family, and 7 Others of his crew.

• THE BACHIMO

Formally known as SS Bachimo was built in the early 19th century, purchased by the Hudson Bay Company after World war 1 and was renamed “Bachimo.” She served her new owner severally till it got trapped in the ice pack near Alaska. Having little or no option, the ship’s crew had to abandon the ship with the intent of coming back for it when the ice melted. Unfortunately, when the company returned to get the ship, it was nowhere to be found.

Surprisingly, the ship was sighted severally drifting on Alaska’s waters for 38 years after it was abandoned, which made it a ghost ship. She was last seen in 1969.

• THE OCTAVIUS

Before a safe passage was found, in 1903-1906, the Northwestern Passage was known for getting ships and their crews destroyed. The Octavius is one of the most memorable ghost ships that met her doom at the sea ice. This is one of the saddest seafaring stories.

Octavius’s story is a fascinating, terrible, and spooky one. it is the real definition of a ghost ship. In the year 1761, the ship went on a voyage from London to China. They got to china safely, did the necessary, and set on sail again back to London. On their way back, the Captain decided to use a different and, as he thought, a better route, a passage that was as at then, not in existence, unknown to him that he was making a journey of no return.

In 1775, a ship (The Herald) was passing through Greenland, when the Octavius was sighted. A crew was sent onboard the ship to check it out and were met with a horrific sight. The whole crew of the ship was found dead and frozen. The spookiest was how the Captain was found. he was found sitting on his desk dead and frozen with a pen in his hand. apparently, he was writing in his logbook. The last entry on the logbook found was dated 1762.

Shivering profusely and knowing your death is near, that you will slowly and eventually freeze to death, is a horrible way to die.

• THE OURANG MEDAN

This ghost ship has the creepiest and most bizarre story, amongst others. According to the seafaring story, in 1947, a distress signal was sent from Ourang Medan, a really disturbing message that said, “All officers, including the Captain, are dead, lying in the chartroom and bridge. Possibly, whole crew dead”. Not so long after this message was sent, a more disturbing message that said only “I die” was sent.

A rescue party was sent immediately, and they got the shock of their life.they were met with the most frightening sight. All crew members, including the Captain, and the ship’s dog, were indeed dead, but what made the situation creepier was the way the bodies were found. They all looked petrified and like they were trying to defend themselves from something or someone, and they had no injury on their bodies. The rescue party attempted to take the ship back with them, to find out exactly what happened, but an unexpected event took place, a fire started on the ship, and the Ourang Medan got burnt.

To date, no one knows what transpired on that ship. Some say it was carbon monoxide poisoning, while others believed pirates or aliens attacked them. In fact, there was no record of the ship anywhere, making people doubt the existence of Ourang Medan.

Many other ghost ship stories like that of the Lady Lovibond, Caluche, Joyita, Caroll A Deering, SS Valencia, and many more. We only highlighted the most notorious and mysterious ones.ghost ship stories are not complete without the mention of the above highlighted seafaring stories in the maritime world, “the top 5 mysterious ghost ships”.