Archaeology & History

The mystery of the Mary Celeste still endures 150 years on

By T.K. Randall
January 2, 2023 ·  32 comments

A painting of the Mary Celeste. Image Credit: PD Discovered in the waters off the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean on December 4th of that year, the Mary Celeste - a merchant brigantine - was the focus of a mystery that still remains unsolved to this day.

The vessel was found adrift and abandoned under partial sail and with one of its lifeboats missing.

There was absolutely no sign of any of the crew and no indication of what might have happened to prompt them to abandon a ship that was, at the time of its discovery, still perfectly seaworthy.

Entries found in the ship's log indicated that it had left New York City for Genoa on November 7th, with the last log entry being ten days before the ship was found.There had been a plentiful supply of food and provisions onboard and even the cargo was intact.

At the time, the fate of the crew of the Mary Celeste became a major point of contention, with theories put forward to explain their disappearance ranging from alcohol fumes to an attack by a giant squid.

After the ship was recovered, it ended up being put back into service and continued to serve under a new owner until it was deliberately wrecked off Haiti in 1885 as part of an insurance scam.

Even today, 150 years on from the disappearance of its original crew, no answers have been forthcoming and no trace of anyone who had been onboard was ever found.

Whether or not they reached wherever it was they had fled to remains a complete mystery.

Source: Boats News | Comments (32)

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