For centuries derelict vessels and hulks have roamed the oceans posing a threat to other ships even today the same danger exists more so with containers that float on the surface and just below it. Ships on the South African Coast report having struck submerged objects not long after the Blue Anchor Line ship Waratah disappeared. At that period in time 1909, the consequences a steamship colliding with a dis-masted hulk either on the surface or slightly below it could have a devastating effect on a ship that had the misfortune to strike one. A steamship proceeding at full speed hitting one of these many hulks would certainly have her watertight integrity breached and possibly sink. Lookouts may spot one on the surface during daylight hours and even a lookout aloft would have difficulty sighting one below the surface, and of course none would be seen at night time. Sailing ships seemed to be the main culprits for example, in June 1881 the Oriflamme caught fire and was abandoned in the Pacific at latitude 18 degrees 12 minutes south longitude 92 degrees 42 minutes west, in February 1882 the hull had drifted ashore on Raroja Island in French Polynesia after having drifted 2,840 mile in eight months.
The full rigged ship Foundling of Liverpool 1,186 tons net with an iron hull left Liverpool with a cargo of railway materials and fire bricks topped off with 1,081 tons of Welsh coal for Bombay. The coal caught fire and could not be controlled and on November 22nd 1874, captain Nicholas W. Rutter and his crew abandoned the ship and made it safely to Pernambuco on the coast of Brazil. The hull did not sink and it drifted for over eight months in the Southern Atlantic. In the first week of October 1895, the port captain of the harbour Paranagua Brazil was surprised to find the hulk in his harbour after negotiating the dangerous bar. The hull was still intact with the railway iron and fire bricks.
The remains of the Foundling
In May 1911 the German Australian Line ship Hanua struck what was believed to be a submerged wreck when 80 miles from Capetown and 10 miles offshore on the south east coast of South Africa. Whatever she struck tore a hole along the bottom of her hull 12 feet long, lucky for the captain it tore the plates below the double bottom hull were a ballast tank was situated and no damage to the cargo took place or any fear of her sinking. The Hanua made full speed for Capetown to be docked and repairs effected, authorities did not believe it could be a rock in that part of the main shipping lane. It was most probably a submersed hulk that had found its way in to the Agulhas current further up north.
s.s. Hanua 1.
A more modern day derelict is the ex Russian ship M.V. Lyubov Orlova which drifted for almost a year in the North Atlantic before finally sinking. The ship was being towed from St Johns Newfoundland to the breakers yard when she broke loose in a storm one day after the tow commenced and could not be retrieved. Could you imagine the damage that would be done to a fast cargo ship or a passenger cruise ship if she was not spotted on radar during the night.
M.V. Lyubov Orlova.
