[Closed] Ghost ship full of cannibal rats could be about to crash into Devon coast

^^Brilliant!

Pigface - Member
...A guy I know spent a few years whilst studying to be an engineer delivering yachts between Austrlia and New Zealand, happily sailing along in bright sunshine one day he hears a huge crash and the boat stops dead and starts filling up with water, the thing sunk in about 4 minutes...

My brother was delivering a very expensive yacht from Oz to SA 2 years ago.

At 4am he was woken up by a crash noise. Popped up on deck, asked the guy on watch what had happened. No idea, but seems ok. Went back down, ankle deep water already, roused the rest of the crew. Boat sank in less than 10 minutes. Then followed a period of hoping someone would respond to their Mayday. Luckily picked up within a day.

But back to the original problem. It may be a bad idea to try to sink this ship.

t's obvious that by now the rats have evolved into super mutants as a result of cannibalism, so they'll be big and clever. How clever? They have got a stealth technology that can hide an entire cruise liner from the best detection technology of the word's navies and more importantly the salvage guys.

Try to sink it, and they are going to be real cranky. I shudder at the likely response. Probably sail up the Thames and eat the contents of the Houses of Parliament. Oh, maybe not such a bad idea, after all... 🙂

Okay - well how about the cheapest projectile that can fired long distances? C'mon work with me here.

It's not just being cheap and able to be fired long distances, it has to sink the ship when it gets there. unless of course you're planning on taking ownership, steering it to the bahamas, and living out a life of luxury. in which case absolutely this

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What could possibly go wrong?

Or they could just ask the bloke who took the photo where he is.

The Canadian government has apologised for both this and Celine Dion on several occasions buddeh'.

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We hit something just off the coast of Majorca, just a couple of miles away from the port at Palma in fact. 20+ knots then something decided it liked the look of one of the props and wanted to keep it and the shaft! Luckily the rudder stopped it getting ripped clean out the back if the boat, unfortunately 12 rather large bolts all shearing at the same time can do some damage - in this case one took out the sea-water intake before it gets to the stop cock!

One engine gone, steering gone, lots of water coming in 18-24 inches in the bilge before we manage to stem the flow. Mayday call made whilst trying to plug the hole, and firing flares is fun 😀 (in hindsight)

Absolutely no idea what we hit, container was the only thing anyone could come up with that would do that sort of damage. The sound of bilge alarms going off one after the other is one I don't think I'll ever forget. Kinda took the edge off the holiday a bit too!

EDIT: why don't we just sink the ship with a container??

My guess - it's already been picked up for salvage.
Probably arranged by the Canadians who 'lost' it.

THIS GETS WORSE!

Not only have Canadians unleashed death ship plague rats upon us they've banned Marmite.

[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25867613 ]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25867613[/url]

I hope ambassadors are being called in for a stern talking to at the very least.

it's already been picked up for salvage.

No it hasn't.

No it hasn't.

Prove it

😉

That would be one big, evil rat though.

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That'll be why Operation Yewtree hasn't picked him up yet!

Prove it

Is this the atheist thread?

If it been picked up it would of required a tug and a salvage team to go onboard.

Then it would have be towed to a port,you would need permission from the Coast State if you are going through their 12' limit, the port would have to agree to allow entry. It can only be broken in licensed facility. It is not going to happen "under the radar".

The ship would make a brilliant 'house' for a future version of Big Brother. I'd watch that to see killer rats eating irritating self promoting wannabees in their sleep

I watch that to see killer rats eating irritating self promoting wannabees in their sleep.

frank - That's a bit dark!

Is this the atheist thread?
If it been picked up it would of required a tug and a salvage team to go onboard.
Then it would have be towed to a port,you would need permission from the Coast State if you are going through their 12' limit, the port would have to agree to allow entry. It can only be broken in licensed facility. It is not going to happen "under the radar".

I hope not or the fun police will be along any second!

Of course, if I was to pick the ship up and drag it to somewhere in Africa or to a beach in Bangladesh, there is a chance I could get someone to take it, and even Roland might find a quiet place to retire to!

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It is not going to happen "under the radar".

winston_dog - Member
I watch that to see killer rats eating irritating self promoting wannabees in their sleep.
frank - That's a bit dark!

Switch the lights on?

erm I thought no-one could find it? if an inanimate object can get lost all by itself I'm sure some shady blokes could keep it hidden

FFS. It is in the middle of the Ocean at the moment.

When you started to bring it close to the land it would be spotted. It's not exactly small. By shady blokes I take it you mean Dr Evil with a volcanic lair, which he can use to hide a ship.
It isn't even particularity valuable, if it was then there would be salvage companies out searching for it.

Winston, I think you may be in danger if turning into the fun police yourself. And as the police, you can't prove anything right now 😉

In answer to some of the (sensible) questions, I was reading about this the other day, but can't recall where (sorry) but what I recall is:

Yes, there's at least one salvage guy actively hunting for this, and I think he's where the "cannibal mutant rats" thing came from originally, I think it's probably the Belgian fella referred to in the OP's linked article. He was talking about how, if he finds it, the first thing he'll have to do is get heavy with the rat poison.

Although they can't pinpoint it, there's been a "shape" picked up on either satellite or radar (satellite, I think) that was about the right size and shape, not long ago, which is where the "heading this way" news came from.

The fact that the lifeboat emergency beacons HAVEN'T been detected as being activated is good evidence that the ship is still afloat (somewhere) as they would automatically activate if they hit seawater (i.e. if the thing sank).

Re. the "owners" - as an abandoned vessel in international waters, the "owner" is whoever gets to it first. Hence the interest from the Belgian fella, and I think others.

Interesting to learn that containers float like that. I assumed they weren't watertight enough to last more than a few hours before being gone forever.

With ships of that size I thought they were the ones that were just towed to that place in india and beached. You can see them all on Google satellite view.

Is that what the salvage guy is planning to do with this ship, or is it one day soon going to be visible from a train window, half way up a stack of scrapped hatchbacks?

Try to sink it, and they are going to be real cranky. I shudder at the likely response. Probably sail up the Thames and eat the contents of the Houses of Parliament. Oh, maybe not such a bad idea, after all...

You could make a lot of money hiring out a politician-eating rat army. Especially if they come with their own transport. It's just a pity Madrid is the only European capital on a non-navigable river 🙁

the other papers are saying the ship is "crewed" by the cannibal rats, so maybe they are actively coming here like their eastern european compatriots for the free livin'

the other papers are saying the ship is "crewed" by the cannibal rats, so maybe they are actively coming here like their eastern european compatriots for the free livin'

Surely if it's "crewed" that means they're god-fearing hard-working honest cannibal rats, and therefore welcome?

The fact that the lifeboat emergency beacons HAVEN'T been detected as being activated

Where you getting that one from? The article I read stated they were activated a year ago. Also EPIRBs activate if turned the right way up, so a mutant ninja rat could've knocked it out of the holder when drunk one night

With ships of that size I thought they were the ones that were just towed to that place in india and beached. You can see them all on Google satellite view.

Yep, that was the general sort of plan, it was being towed from Canada to, I think, either Puerto Rico or Peru (I'm sure it was a "P" place) to be broken up but the line(s) broke, and since it was clear of Canada, in international waters and therefore no longer a threat or hazard to them, the Canadian authorities said "f- it" and left it to drift...

Where you getting that one from?

Sorry, as I said I can't remember where I read it, but I definitely read it somewhere, although may have mis-rememberised some of the details. If that's just total cobblers, assume it was the Wailly Fail.

[quote=legend ]

The fact that the lifeboat emergency beacons HAVEN'T been detected as being activated

I have a few marine salvage companies as clients and if it made a profit those guys will be all over finding it. Problem is that the ocean is a big place and it is far easier to find when it is washed up.

One of them told me of a similar story of a deserted ship they recovered that had hit one of the islands in the atlantic/pacific (can't remember which). It had got into difficulty and then broke free from the vessel towing it to safety and went missing for a month or two. They recovered it from where it had run aground and got a massive payout because one of the containers on board was loaded with microchips and worth millions.

Winston, I think you may be in danger if turning into the fun police yourself.

legend - You're right I am. Apologies.I just get peed off when nonsense is spouted in the media about my industry. There is nothing worse than reading how the media simplifies and at the same time hypes up stuff!

The killer rat stuff is fine, all good fun, it's just the way the ship it is self is presented.

As it comes closer to busier areas it will get reported and then somebody will grab it. This may be commercial salvors or it could be something organised by the Coastguards of which country is threatened by it ending up on there beach. TBH in my guess it is worth more than £600k in scrap but any recovery operation is going to cost a fair bit.

End of mini rant.

I have a few marine salvage companies as clients and if it made a profit those guys will be all over finding it. Problem is that the ocean is a big place and it is far easier to find when it is washed up.

This.

luffy105 - Are you a London lawyer by any chance?

luffy105 - Are you a London lawyer by any chance?

lol, Flipping wish I were then I would be able to afford lots of bikes!

Sadly, I am nowhere near that lofty level. We just supply specialist GSM and Satcomms all over the world and I manage our commmercial and leisure maritime sectors

Winston, If you are in that game is your head office in a dutch pepper pot by any chance?

I think it would be a perfect size to set up a free school, what is needed is a gifted, motivational leader who understands education in all its variety. I cant think of one that fits the bill better than...
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If they've stolen a boat are they not then cannibal pi-rats?

jackthedog
Interesting to learn that containers float like that. I assumed they weren't watertight enough to last more than a few hours before being gone forever.

it's not really the integrity of the container doorseals, more the contents of said container that cause it to float! Imagine a container filled with 100,000 bubble wrapped or blow mould encased nicnaks from china, effectively, those provide just enough buoyancy to make the container, er, buoyant!

well I've scanned the Atlantic on Google Satellite and can't see anything. there were no icebergs either, so maybe that bit's photoshopped.
my neighbour's cat is pretty good at finding rats - I'll ask him if he's seen it.

I have to say, the original exeter express and echo article really must take speculation levels up to a whole new level!

So, it's been 12 months since it was last spotted, which means by now it could literally be almost anywhere in any ocean, and the source of the mutant rat angle is "The Sun", that well known expert publication on all things rodent!

Brilliant story though, and one for the HIGNFY missing words round surely!

[i]pi-rats[/i]

They'll be making landfall at Penzance then, mystery solved.

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[quote=maxtorque ]it's not really the integrity of the container doorseals, more the contents of said container that cause it to float! Imagine a container filled with 100,000 bubble wrapped or blow mould encased nicnaks from china, effectively, those provide just enough buoyancy to make the container, er, buoyant!
Aha!!! the Royal Mails sudden change of policy on shipping sealed containers now makes sense. It's all to do with protecting the worlds shipping lanes!!!

They have got a stealth technology that can hide an entire cruise liner from the best detection technology of the word's navies...

They only want to us think it's drifting, unpiloted.

It could part of a larger plan. The floating headquarters of the inter-continental rat brain interface super computer.

http://io9.com/5987567/brain+to+brain-interfaces-have-arrived-and-they-are-absolutely-mindblowing

Those searching for the ship say there are likely to be thousands of disease-ridden rats on board with no source of food except each other.

So there could in fact just be one, well hard, fat rat on the ship.

jon1973 - Member
|Those searching for the ship say there are likely to be thousands of disease-ridden rats on board with no source of food except each other."
So there could in fact just be one, well hard, fat rat on the ship.

So the rest were pie-rats? 🙂

Actually this could be the loving and caring UK govt's answer to all those pesky oldies sucking up tax money.

"Free luxury cruise - for the rest of your life if you want"

Jeez, I should get a seat in the Lords for that idea.