Two missing ships from the 19th century discovered in search for MH370
Experts have discovered the wreckage of two mysteriously missing 19th-century cargo ships while searching for flight MH370 in southwestern Australia.
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The wreck was found at a depth of more than 3,000 m below the ocean floor. Photo:AFP. |
In 2015, while searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, search equipment discovered the wreckage of two coal ships that sank in the 19th century..Maritime historians on May 3 released a list of possible names for the two wrecks.
They were discovered 2,300 km southwest of Australia. The ship wreckage and coal were located at a depth of 3,700 m on the ocean floor.Investigators used underwater equipment to photograph two shipwreck sites and retrieved coal samples from one ship for a closer look. Analysis showed the coal was likely shipped from England, the Western Australian Museum reported.
After examining images of scattered ship debris discovered on 19 May 2015 and incomplete records of missing ships from that time, they found it was likely to be either the W Gordon or the Magdala. The W Gordon disappeared in 1877 with 10 crew while sailing from Scotland to Australia, while the Magdala disappeared in 1882 while sailing from Wales to Indonesia.
According to the report, traces from the wreckage suggest that the ships were likely sunk by an explosion. They believe that methane gas accumulated in coal below decks, leading to the explosion, or that the fire was caused by the coal overheating.
Another wreck found on December 19, 2015, is likely to be the West Ridge, which disappeared while sailing from England to India with 28 crew in 1883. Coal samples from the ship indicate it was of British origin. There is no evidence of the cause of the disaster, but the location of the wreckage east of the European-Asian trade route suggests it may have been heading for the nearest port in Australia to seek relief.
The museum’s curator of maritime archaeology, Ross Anderson, said the new data on the two 19th-century sunken ships was a significant sideline to the search for MH370. However, he predicted that no one would fund a salvage operation to determine their origins because of their remote location and the depths of the ocean floor.
"They are wrecks deep at the bottom of the Indian Ocean and are two of the deepest shipwrecks in the world," he said. HSeveral shipwrecks sunk in the late 20th century were also discovered during the search for MH370.
In January, the Malaysian government pledged to pay Ocean Infinity, a Texas-based technology company, $70 million if it could find debris or black boxes from MH370 within 90 days. This week, Ocean Infinity said it had scanned an area of 80,000 square kilometers since January but had found no sign of the plane.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 carrying 239 people went missing on March 8, 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing, China. The plane is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. Australia, China and Malaysia have coordinated a search but have found no results. The disappearance is considered one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries.