An incredible cruise ship has become a dark tourist attraction – after it hit a reef on an island paradise and was left to rot.
The MS World Discoverer was once, adjusting for inflation, reportedly sold for around £40m. Today, her looted hulk lies on its side in the shallows of the Pacific Ocean, on the shoreline of the Nggela Islands’s beautiful Roderick Bay, in the Solomon Islands archipelago.
The ship, which was built to withstand icebergs and sail the polar regions, boasted an observation lounge, a library and lecture hall, a sun deck with a swimming pool – and a small fitness centre. But she met her watery grave after allegedly being intentionally run aground by her desperate captain, nearly a quarter of a century ago.
Built in Germany by Schichau Unterweser in 1973, her original owners – BEWA Cruises of Denmark – reportedly went out of business before her construction was completed. She was eventually sold to Adventurer Cruises and – despite being registered in Singapore – sailed the Great Lakes cruise line, between Chicago and Montreal, in the United States and Canada.
By 1980 MS World Discoverer was registered in Liberia and underwent a costly refit – and then truly lived up to her name. The ship conducted cruises for 140 passengers in the Southern Hemisphere’s summer, from November through to February – visiting places like Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, Chile and Argentina.
During June and August, the ship cruised around the Alaskan region – and also the Russian border. And, from March to May and August to October, the ship cruised the South Pacific Islands.
It was the latter voyages that would prove to be her undoing. On the afternoon of April 30, 2000, the ship struck a large uncharted rock or reef in the Sandfly Passage, Solomon Islands.
Her Captain, Oliver Kruess, sent a distress signal and in a desperate bid to save the ship from sinking – allegedly deliberately ran her aground in Roderick Bay. The ship smashed through the white sands and into the jungle beyond.
British traveller David Wright was onboard at the time. In May 2000, he told The Scottish Herald: “It was just rammed into the beach, breaking trees in the forest, which stretches down to the shore.
“It was quite spectacular,” continued Mr Wright. “When we reached the beach, we could see a tree hanging from the prow of the ship.”
Thankfully, everyone on board was safely evacuated. But the World Discoverer would – despite several salvage attempts – remain scuppered in the Solomon Islands, reports the Sun. And now she is a local landmark – and a popular tourist attraction.
Leave a Reply