Burma: ‘Ghost’ Container Ship Runs Aground in Gulf of Martaban

Burma: ‘Ghost’ Container Ship Runs Aground in Gulf of Martaban
30 August 2018 https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/ghost-container-ship-runs-aground-g...

The container ship Sam Ratulangi approaches Singapore in 2008. / Maritime Traffic
YANGON—A “ghost” container ship with no crew or cargo ran aground near the mouth of the Gulf of Martaban, 7 nautical miles from Thongwa Township in Yangon Region, early this week.

According to the Myanmar Department of Marine Administration, the container ship Sam Ratulangi, registered in Palau, ran aground in bad weather three days ago.

“There’s no crew or cargo on board,” the department said in a report on the case released on Thursday and seen by The Irrawaddy.

The department speculated that the ship was either towed by another vessel for some distance before separating and eventually running aground, or abandoned after a failed attempt to tow it.

The department said it would contact the port authority in Palau as soon as possible in the hopes of reaching its owner in order to salvage the vessel.