On December 4th 1972 MARY CELESTE was found abandoned with no one aboard still sailing near Portugal. How could have this happened? A ship from U.S sailing near Portugal all by itself?
Its original name was THE AMAZON built in Canada in 1861. It was 31 meters long and 7.6 meters wide . since her birth it had been evil in one way or the other. It will either kill the passengers on her voyage or destroy any other ship in its way 'accidentally'. Those who took charge of this ship went bankrupt or died within few months. Finally it was purchased by an American by the name James Winchester at an auction in New York for a princely sum of $3000. The name was then changed to 'Mary Celeste'. But its luck however was not changed. It underwent many repairs and innovations. On October 1972 it was decide that Mary Celeste should go on a voyage to Genoa, Italy carrying 1701 barrels of commercial alcohol worth $35000 with full insurance. The ship was to be captained by Benjamin Briggs who was at that time 37 years of age, an experienced captain and had captained at least 5 ships before. He was about to sail with his family and 3 sailors, all trustworthy and brave men. On November 7th 1972 it began its voyage only to be found abandoned and deserted 1 month later by the British vessel named Dei Gratio off Portugal coast. Several theory evolved to explain this mystery but none could explain it thoroughly. The theories wer.
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| THE GHOST SHIP |
PIRACY
The first theory evolved was piracy. The theory stated that the crew were killed by the pirates and thrown aboard.
Fault.
Nothing was robbed, The cargo was not touched except 9 barrels of alcohol was empty. The personal belongings of the crew was also not touched. And it was a decade since pirates attacked ships through the strait of Gibraltar. This was due to the strong and powerful British navy blockade.
THE DEI GRATIO
The theory said that The crew of the british vessel Dei Gratio must have killed all those who were aboard and then created the story to claim the salvage rights.
Faults.
No struggle was found on the Mary Celeste. Secondly Dei Gratio departed a week after Mary Celeste left. It was not possible to catch the ship and kill the crew at such quick time. And moreover the captain of Dei Gratio, Morehouse was a good friend of Briggs and would never do such an evil act.
SCAM
This theory stated that Briggs and Morehouse together formed a plan to steal all these goods and escape easily.
faults
However this plan required some very well sketched out plans and Briggs
and Morehouse only met once in a while. Moreover the Briggs was not the owner of Mary Celeste, James Winchester was.
SEA QUAKE.
This was a more faithful theory stated but this too had its faults. there must have been a sea quake and the crew must have jumped to small boats and tried to escape. But couldn't catch up with Mary Celeste and died of hunger and exposure to the weather.
Faults.
There were no such sea quake reported in the Atlantic ocean at that time. and if there was such a sea quake members of Dei Gratio should have felt the after shocks but there were no such reports at all.
STORM
It was true that when Dei Gratio caught Mary Celeste it had water in between its decks. About 3.5 meters to be exact. So the theory said it was attacked by storm.
Faults.
The water level was not that high that the ship itself would sink. And there were no reports that any storm was at that time in the Atlantic ocean. So if the captain had been a little over conscious about his family and told the crew to evacuate then why not come back and tell the story.
EXPLOSION
This explanation was given by the owner of the ship James Winchester himself. The 9 barrels which were found empty were made from red oaks while the others were white oaks. The red oaks are porous than the white oaks so a slow leakage from the red barrels must have created an alcohol vapor. The friction between the barrels and the steel bands that bind them together must have caused an explosion. The captain must have orders evacuation immediately. So they must have tied their small boats with Mary Celeste. but due to the lack of time they must not have tied the rope properly and it must have been cut off from the the main ship and the crew must have died from prevailing weather and of hunger and thirst.
Fault
When the ship was found by the British vessel Dei Gratio there was no sign of burn or smell of alcohol.
MYSTERY
From the starting till the end THE AMAZON or MARY CELESTE was cursed as it endured many troubles and problems and delivered the same to those who handle it.
wonderful
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