Travel by sea is very alluring.
The endless expanse of water is perhaps one of the prettiest sights you will ever see!
But that does not mean that it is without its dangers.
And not just sea sickness, there are some major disasters which happen at sea.
Some are because of nature, some are man made but they are all pretty gruesome!
Here is a look at some of the worst sea disasters.
15.
MV Wilhelm Gustloff.
During the end of the Second World War, the Soviet army was advancing and rapidly so.
And anything German was the enemy.
Sadly, that also meant the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, a German ocean liner.
With the looming defeat of Germany, about 11,000 people were on board the ship, which
was meant only for 1900, to escape the war.
And when a Russian submarine came upon this ship, they fired 3 torpedoes.
The result was catastrophic.
The ship sunk and there were not enough lifeboats.
Almost 9,343 people died, including children!
This was the worst maritime tragedy in history!
14.
Costa Concordia.
The Costa Concordia was one of the biggest ships built in Italy.
It was a cruise liner which was on the first leg of a cruise around the Mediterranean when
it decided to go off course at the Isola del Giglio.
The waters were calm and no one could have foreseen the disaster that awaited.
The ship struck a rock formation which was submerged under water on the 13th of January, 2012.
There was massive damage and a huge rescue operation was undertaken to save the people on board.
However, 32 people still lost their lives and the worst part was that the Captain and
the crew had abandoned ship while there were over 300 people still on board!
They were found guilty later and the captain was sentenced to 16 years in jail.
13.
MV Princess of the stars.
There is something to be said about humans ignoring nature’s warning.
When the MV Princess of the Stars set sail from Manila on the 20th of June, 2008, there
were clear warnings about typhoon Frank.
What was worse was that the Princess of the Stars was a cargo vessel and yet it was carrying passengers.
The captain had been advised to delay the departure but he ignored the warnings and
the ship was caught in the eye of Typhoon Frank.
It resulted in one of the worst sea disasters in recent history as only 28 of the 800 passengers
were reported safe.
400 bodies are yet to be found while over 130 exhumed bodies could not be recognized!
12.
RMS Lancastria.
The Second World War was probably the greatest disasters to have happened in human history.
And the story of RMS Lancastria is one of it’s many agonizing tales.
It was commandeered by the British government to bring back the British troops and nationals
from France after the Dunkirk evacuation.
There were between 4000 to 9000 people on board when the Germans dropped 3 bombs on it.
Lancastria went down in under 20 minutes as 1400 tons of oil leaked into the sea.
The rescue operations couldn’t amount to much as it is believed that over 4000 people
lost their lives in the disaster.
11.
MS al-Salam Boccaccio.
Originally built as a ferry as one of the 8 poet class ships in Italy, it had a capacity
of 500 passengers and 200 automobiles.
Later renovations increased its capacity before it was sold to the El Salam shipping company
in 1999.
On 2nd February, 2006, the ship departed Saudi Arabia carrying about 1400 people and 220 vehicles.
But, a fire broke out on the ship and as the crew were fighting the fire, water accumulated
in the lower deck, including the car deck area.
The captain ordered the ship to turn around, but during the turn, the al-Salam Boccaccio
capsized and sank in less than 10 minutes.
The SOS sent out by the ship was not answered till 12 hours later and there were only 400
people who could be rescued.
There is no information about the remaining although 185 bodies were recovered.
10.
RMS Lusitania.
Travels during the world war were fraught with danger not just on land, but on the sea as well.
The RMS Lusitania learnt this the hard way when on 7th May, 1915 a German u-boat torpedoed
and sunk the ship.
There were over 1900 passengers on the 32,000 ton ship.
What made it worse was that the Lusitania was carrying over 173 tons of munitions which
was probably the reason why it sank in under 20 minutes.
There were over 120 Americans on board the ship and the RMS Lusitania turned the public
opinion against the Germans during the first world war.
It was probably one of the reasons why America entered the war against the Germans in the first place!
9.
MS Estonia.
With over 15 years of successful ferrying of people and cargo, the MS Estonia changed
many hands before coming to the Estonia shipping company in the 1990s.
But in September, 1994, its glorious run came to an abrupt end when rough winds and massive
waves caused its visor to break off.
This let the water in and the ship turned on its side.
But about 20 minutes later, it went below the water.
A massive rescue operation was soon underway but the frigid waters saw to it that no one
under the age of 12 survived and only 7 over 55 survived.
Almost 852 lives were lost and poor maintenance and faulty construction was blamed for the disaster.
8.
HMT Royal Edward.
The HMT Royal Edward was a Canadian Northern Steamship which could accommodate up to 1114 passengers.
During the First World War, it was being used to bring Canadian troops to Europe and when
it embarked on the 28th of July, 1915 for Gallipoli when the German UB 14 submarine
launched a torpedo which struck the Royal Edward in the stern.
The ship sunk in under 6 minutes and only around 660 men could be saved.
There were over 935 casualties although the actual figure may have been higher.
7.
RMS Empress.
On the 29th of May, 1914, Canada witnessed one of its worst maritime disasters when the
RMS Empress of Ireland collided with the Norwegian freighter Storstad in the gulf of Canada’s
St. Lawrence river.
The Empress was carrying over a thousand passengers and crew and the Storstad reportedly penetrated
15 feet of Empress’s hull.
It sunk within 14 minutes and led to a loss of over 1500 people even though safety precautions
were top notch on the ship.
But on the fateful day, there was a heavy fog blanket and the confusion led to only
7 lifeboats escaping.
6.
SS Sultana.
On April 27, 1865 many people were hopeful.
After all, they were Union prisoners of war and had just been released and those 2300
were aboard the SS Sultana off the coast of Tennessee.
But tragedy struck, and the Sultana exploded and sank, killing almost 1700.
3 of the 4 boilers of the steam ship exploded and perhaps the reason the toll was so high
was because it was overloaded by a huge margin.
The disaster came just as the civil war ended, so it was largely forgotten but still remains
one of the worst maritime disasters!
5.
MV Dona Paz.
Philippines had a large number of passenger ferries as they are one of the cheaper and
more popular ways to travel.
But on 20th December, 1987, as many as 4000 people boarded the Dona Paz to travel from
Leyte Island to manila.
What they did not know was that only 24 of them would survive the journey.
The Dona Paz collided with the MT Vector, which was carrying over 8800 gallons of fuel!
The collision was followed by an explosion and many passengers jumped ship, but were
caught in the blaze on the surface of the water.
The rescue operation took hours and even then, only 108 bodies were recovered, and most of
them were burnt beyond recognition.
4.
MV Joola.
The MV le Joola was a Senegalese government owned ferry operating off the coast of Gambia.
It was designed for approximately 580 passengers but as is often the case, it was overcrowded.
Estimates say that there were at 2000 people on board on the 26th of September, 2002.
Joola sailed off right into a storm and the rough seas and the wind soon capsized the
ship and the passengers went overboard.
Reports say that all this happened in under 5 minutes and only 1 lifeboat could be released
with just 25 passengers.
The government rescue ships could not arrive till morning but local fishermen saved as
many as they could during the night.
Still, the loss of life was humongous with at least 1863 people dying.
3.
SS Eastland.
The exuberance on the 24th of July, 1915 was palpable as thousands had gathered along the
Chicago River for the annual Western Electric employee picnic.
It was supposed to be a day of fun and frolic and over 7000 tickets had been sold!
5 excursion boats had been hired, and one of them was the SS Eastland, also known as
the speed queen of the great lakes.
Over 2500 were on board the Eastland when it rolled into the river at the wharf’s edge.
Over 844 people lost their lives despite timely efforts by the people and police.
2.
SS Kiangya.
The world war left behind many harrowing tales, but none were as ironic as the one which took
a few years after the end of the war.
The SS Kiangya was packed with refugees from the Chinese civil war during its 1948 voyage
when it hit a mine left behind during the world war.
The Kiangya exploded and sank, about fifty miles south of Shanghai.
The death toll was massive, with reports saying that almost 3920 people met their ends in the disaster.
1.
Titanic.
Perhaps the most famous maritime disaster ever was the sinking of the unsinkable ship,
the Titanic.
It was one of the largest and most luxurious ocean liners ever built and was supposed to
be the fastest ship in the world.
The hull was designed with 16 compartments, each watertight.
The ship could stay afloat even if 4 of these filled with water and hence it was considered
unsinkable.
There were over 2200 passengers and crew on board its maiden voyage to New York from Southampton.
However, just before midnight on 14th April, 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg which
ruptured 5 of the chambers.
This caused the bow to sink and the stern to rise to an almost vertical position.
Of the 2200 passengers, only about 700 survived, mostly women and children.
It remains one of the greatest maritime disasters ever!
Do let us know in the comments below if you have heard of other major maritime disasters
and remember to subscribe to get instant alerts on our videos!