Spooky ship: Oil tanker washes up on Liberian shore with no sight of crew

This may sound spooky, but according to this report by The Guardian, an oil tanker washed up on the shores of Liberia in west Africa on Friday with no crew or lifeboats on board. According to the report, the abandoned Tamaya 1 – registered in Panama – ran aground on a beach near Robertsport earlier this week. The Liberia national police and bureau of immigration inspected the ship, days after local residents first discovered it on the beach, states the report.

As per the shipping site Marine Traffic, the 64-meter tanker’s was last located near Gambia and Senegal on 21 April along the west African coast. A source at the nation’s port authority was quoted in the Liberian Daily Observer as saying, “Our best bet is that the vessel’s owner might have gone broke and had no money to pay crew members. And therefore, the crew abandoned the ship.” According to the Maritime  reports, the ship was allegedly looted and vandalized. It also gave rise to a speculation that pirates or a fire had caused the crew to abandon the ship. However, police have tried to keep civilians away from the ship.