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Mystery off the Portuguese coast - Letter from the Algarve by Frances Ruddick
• 17 May 2007 •
 THE recent case of three missing crewmen from Kaz II, a yacht sailing off the north coast of Australia, has been dubbed, ‘another Mary Celeste.’ There are certain similarities since on both ships the tables were laid out for a meal and apart from the missing crew members; everything appeared to be in order.
The demise of the yachtsmen can be regarded as tragic rather than sinister, since it seems highly likely that one man fell overboard and the other two were drowned in their attempt to rescue him.
Compared to the Mary Celeste – found abandoned off the Portuguese coast in 1872 – Kaz II was an accident that can be logically explained.
The famous story of the Mary Celeste was popularised by a poem, an epic tale that is partly a work of fiction containing several facts. When these are examined, alongside the extraordinary life history of the sailing ship, it is difficult not to reach the conclusion that in some way the Mary Celeste was cursed.
Here are the documented records that recount what actually happened. The ship was found abandoned between the Azores and the Portuguese mainland on December 3 having set out from New York in mid-November.
At the helm was her new owner Captain Briggs and on board were his family and seven crew members.
The ship that came across the Mary Celeste was the Dei Gratia, sailing east on route to Gibraltar.
The sailors became curious when they noticed there was no-one on the deck. They came alongside to discover the sails were perfectly set and the ship undamaged. Some climbed aboard and noted the cargo had not been disturbed but the Mary Celeste was totally deserted of people.
Odder still, they found a half eaten breakfast spread out on the table.
The possessions of the captain and his crew appeared to be in place, ruling out the possibility of piracy. The last entry in the log book was perfectly normal, dated November 24; nine days had elapsed since then.
In the months to come no bodies were ever washed up on the islands of the Azores or the Portuguese mainland and the whereabouts of these hapless people remains an unsolved maritime mystery.
Almost as strange are other disasters that happened to the Mary Celeste, both before and after the eerie voyage.
Eleven years earlier, 48 hours after the ship was launched in Nova Scotia, the captain was unexpectedly found dead. On the same fateful trip she struck a fishing weir, had to return to shore to be repaired and while in dock an unexplained fire occurred.
Later she collided with another ship in the Atlantic and following more repairs was then shipwrecked on rocks off the coast of Newfoundland and had to be towed back to land.
Unbelievable perhaps, but true.
At this point it is no wonder that people began to question if the Mary Celeste was cursed?
Clearly Captain Briggs did not think so when he purchased her from a salvage auction in New York for 3,000 dollars, (2,200 euros).
Fully restored and seaworthy, when he helped his wife and children on board and headed for the Mediterranean, he believed that they were safe.
Although it is assumed that everyone on board must have perished, the ship survived, to become involved in yet another dubious incident when she fell into the hands of an unscrupulous captain. Intending to make an inflated insurance claim for the goods on board, he deliberately tried to sink her.
You would think that a ship with such an infamous reputation would easily go down but the Mary Celeste refused, her hull remaining propped up on a reef. Insurance investigators were able to establish that the captain had lied about his cargo which consisted of rubber boots and cat food.
The captain’s plans were scuppered and so too the Mary Celeste as she broke up on the reef. The end of an ignominious maritime career. |  Return to Top
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