The Mary Celeste, A 100-foot brigantine is found adrift in the North Atlantic Ocean with the entire crew missing. Found in sail-worthy condition, with cargo intact, and no evidence of the pirate attack. What went wrong on board The Ghost Ship Mary Celeste has baffled the world for more than a century.

The ship was built in 1861 at Spencer’s Island, Nova Scotia in Canada. The brigantine was originally named the Amazon, but it was later rechristened as Mary Celeste after it suffered a series of misfortunes. Its first captain suddenly fell ill and met an untimely. Later the ship had a collision with another ship in the English Channel. 

The Mary Celeste, a British-American ship, left New York City on November 7, 1872, for Genoa in Italy. The 282-ton brigantine was manned by Captain Benjamin Briggs and seven crew members. Briggs was accompanied by his wife and their 2-year-old daughter, Sophia. The Mary Celeste sailed in rough weather for two weeks to reach the Azores, where the ship log’s last entry was recorded at 5 a.m. on November 25, 1872.

On December 4, 1872, A British brigantine, Dei Gratia found the Mary Celeste adrift and deserted in the Atlantic Ocean around 400 nautical miles (740 km) from the Azores Islands, Portugal. At the time, the brigantine was under partial sail and in a seaworthy condition.

The ship was amply stocked up with around six months of food and water. The ship’s cargo of 1,701 barrels of denatured alcohol was mostly intact as were the captain’s and crew’s personal belongings. The ship’s only lifeboat was missing, and one of its two pumps had been disassembled. There was three-and-a-half feet of water in the ship’s bottom.

The Dei Gratia crewmen split themselves and together sailed the two ships for 800 miles to Gibraltar where they planned to claim salvage money from Mary Celeste’s insurers under maritime law. But the attorney general in charge of the inquiry suspected foul play and investigated the case accordingly. After more than three months, the court found no evidence of mischief.

Ultimately, the payment was granted to the Dei Gratia crew. Only one-sixth of $46,000, the total insurance value, was approved, indicating that the authorities were not fully convinced of the Dei Gratia crew’s innocence.

In 2001, An American adventure novelist and underwater explorer, Clive Eric Cussler claimed to have found the wreck of Mary Celeste. However, analysis of the timbers retrieved from the ship Cussler found showed the wood was still living at least a decade after Mary Celeste sank.

Mary Celeste continued to sail under its new owners until 1885 when its captain deliberately wrecked her off the coast of Haiti in attempted insurance fraud. 

Speculations for the possible causes of ship abandonment include alcohol fumes arising from the cargo, mutiny by a slave, pirate attack, attack by a sea monster, and paranormal intervention.

Mary Celeste’s disappearance is comparable to the mysterious disappearance of a group of English settlers who vanished from Roanoke Island under mysterious circumstances.

The unexplained desertion of The Mary Celeste has also inspired many documentaries, novels, and films. 

The enduring mystery also enticed Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who penned a short story in 1884, in which the crew of a ghost ship gets killed by an ex-slave seeking vengeance. 

The story was depicted on celluloid in a 1935 British film, “The Mystery of the Mary Celeste”. Directed by Denison Clift, the film starred Béla Lugosi, Shirley Grey, and Arthur Margetson. 

The world’s interest to unfold the mystery behind the lost ship is refusing to die down as is proved by the release of the movie, Haunting of the Mary Celeste in 2020. Directed by Shana Betz, the movie stars Emily Swallow, Richard Roundtree, and Ava Acres.

In 2005, Brian Hicks authored the investigative book, “Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and Her Missing Crew”. 

What transpired aboard the brigantine which forced its crew to abandon a fully stocked up and sail-worthy ship or what happened to its crew remains unanswered to date. This probably remains one of the most famous and intriguing maritime mysteries of all time.  

You may also like to read similar classic mysteries of The Legend of Loch Ness Monster, The Lost Colony of Roanoke Island, The Haunted Fort of Bhangarh, The Haunted Town Kuldhara, and many others!

---