‘Hope I don’t find any dead bodies!’: Sailors find ‘ghost ship’ drifting hundreds of miles from Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean and get a shock when they go on board
- Sailor filmed the moment he stumbled upon a ‘ghost ship’ outside of Bermuda
- He explored abandoned sailboat and said: ‘Thank God there’s no dead bodies’
- Online sleuths say the boat was abandoned by crew after it was damaged
A sailor has shared new footage of the moment he stumbled upon an eerie ‘ghost ship’ 800 miles outside of Bermuda with no crew or passengers on board.
Matt Rutherford and his colleague from Ocean Research Project found the abandoned boat and immediately worried something terrible may have happened to the crew on board.
Incredible vision of Mr Rutherford exploring the boat as it drifted through the Atlantic Ocean only emerged five days ago.
In the video, the yachties noticed the sail was not up on the boat and it appeared to be ‘behaving strangely’ in the distance. Upon closer inspection, the duo realised ‘there was no sign of anyone’ and the motor was not running.
In deciding to explore the boat Mr Rutherford said: ‘This is one awfully abandoned sailboat. Wolfhound from the Irish yacht club.
Matt Rutherford and his colleague from Ocean Research Project found the abandoned boat in 2013, about nine weeks after it was thought to be deserted
Incredible footage of the moment Mr Rutherford explored the boat only emerged five days ago
‘I have no idea what’s inside, I’m going to go and search around and I hope I don’t find any dead bodies or anything.’
On board, the boat appeared to have been abandoned in a hurry, with clothes and personal items strewn all over the cabin.
‘No dead bodies, thank God,’ he said.
‘This is absolutely crazy by the way. 800 miles from Bermuda, 1,500 miles from the US, standing on a very nice Swan 48, in the middle of the ocean.’
Mr Rutherford said in an earlier podcast detailing the 2013 exploration he ‘half expected someone to pop their head up and say hello’, but felt he needed to explore it in case someone was injured on board.
‘Parts of the ceiling had fallen down in some places, some drawers had popped open, you could hear the water sloshing around. It was just the spookiest thing. It looked crazy in there, like people had abandoned it in the middle of something.’
On board, the boat appeared to have been abandoned in a hurry, with clothes and personal items strewn all over the cabin
In the video, the yachties noticed the sail was not up on the boat and it appeared to be ‘behaving strangely’ in the distance. Upon closer inspection, the duo realised ‘there was no sign of anyone’ and the motor was not running
Initially, the pair attached the boat to their own and hoped to tow it along with them
Initially, the pair attached the boat to their own and hoped to tow it along with them.
After travelling about 50 miles, they realised it wouldn’t be possible to go any further and had to cut the Wolfhound loose.
The video was shared to YouTube just five days ago, and has caught the attention of online sleuths who believe the boat was skippered by Alan McGettigan, of the Royal Irish Yacht Club.
Mr McGettigan and his crew made headlines in 2013 when they were rescued 400 miles off the coast of Delaware on a voyage to Bermuda and Antigua.
At the time, it was reported the yacht suffered ‘knock-downs’ and was damaged, with mechanical failures.
The crew put out a distress call and were rescued by a Greek freighter.
Mr Rutherford often shares his daring adventures online, and was the first man to solo sail non-stop around North and South America.
He’s considered by many as a ‘legend’ within the sailing community.
Mr Rutherford said in an earlier podcast he ‘half expected someone to pop their head up and say hello’, but felt he needed to explore it in case someone was injured on board
He said: ‘Parts of the ceiling had fallen down in some places, some drawers had popped open, you could hear the water sloshing around. It was just the spookiest thing. It looked crazy in there, like people had abandoned it in the middle of something’
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