Mysterious 'Ghost Ship' Found Floating Off The Coast Of Thailand With No Trace Of Crew, Identifying Documents

An abandoned 'ghost ship' has been found floating off the coast of Thailand with no crew on board.

The ship was discovered on January 6 by the Chevron oil rig workers in the Gulf of Thailand and had been stripped of all identifying documents, The Mirror reported.

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But it sank due to rough seas and strong winds near Sichon District in Nakhon Si Thammarat province while being towed by the Thai navy on Sunday.

The so-called ghost ship had the words Jin Shui Yuan 2 written across it in Chinese letters, but there is no information of its departing origin.

There was no crew, cargo or any form of identification documents on board, after being found by Chevron workers around one hundred nautical miles from the Songkhla Lake ¨C the largest natural lake in Thailand, as per The Mirror.

Local authorities are coordinating an operation with the Thai government's marine department to stop a one kilometre-wide oil leak from harming the environment and spreading to nearby holiday islands.

Buoys were also placed to mark the area where the ship had sunk and fishermen have been alerted to be careful while sailing.

Thai navy Captain Itthipat Gavinfuengfukul said: "We have been trying to bring the ship to shore, but it sank before we could reach it. Buoys have been deployed at the point where it sank. The ship is 18 metres from the water¡¯s surface and about 28 nautical miles from the coast of Sichon district."

Dramatic footage shows the ship floating in silence through the night as its rescuers shine torch beams at it.

The massive hull tilts at an angle towards the torches as if it were about to keel over and sink.

Thai navy men in khaki outfits are later shown boarding the vessel as their own comes alongside it, weapons in hand.

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A notice has been issued to the shipowner to salvage the vessel within 15 days.

Captain Itthipat said the ship was floating 18 metres below the surface of the water and only 28 nautical miles (32 miles) from the coast of Sichon.

If the shipowner comes forward, he said, he or she would have to pay to claim the now wrecked craft.

Thailand's Centre for National Marine Interest Region 2 will be investigating the matter further.

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