The discovery of a 500-foot long ship weighting almost 16,000 tons in the middle of the desert, more than 1,200 miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea, was a very unusual event for the nomads who found it. But the mysterious discovery was even stranger than it appeared: The ship was identified as the SS Marine Sulphur Queen, a T2 tanker converted to carry molten sulphur, noted for its disappearance in 1963 in the Bermuda Triangle with 39 crewmen onboard. The Libyan military dispatched soldiers to protect the wreck from looting while investigators of the National Police try to determine how the ship got there. Libyan National Army spokesman, Muhammad al-Zarih, says no signs of the 39 crewmen were found, neither corpses or personal belongings. "the cabins are totally empty, the cargo has disappeared, even parts of the ship are gone. The only items we found seem linked to looters rather than the crew.” Mr. al-Zarih says the wreck appears to have been there for several decades and was visibly looted many years ago. “There were soviet cigarettes butts and packaging from the 1980’s onboard, as well as cans and trash from the same time period, as if the ship had been inhabited by squatters.”
Libyan National Army spokesman, Muhammad al-Zarih, says looters and squatters have greatly compromised chances of determining how the ship got from the coast of Florida to the middle of the Sahara Desert.
Investigators still hope to find clues on board that could help explain the mysterious fate of the ship and its crew members. The SS Marine Sulphur Queen disappeared in 1963 near the southern coast of Florida, with 39 crewmen onboard. In the investigation, the Coast Guard determined that the ship was unsafe and not seaworthy, and never should have sailed. The final report suggested four causes of the disaster, all due to poor design and maintenance of the ship. The discovery of the ship’s remain more than 10,000 miles from its last known location suggests the cause of its disappearance may have been totally different.