The terrifying mystery of the 'ghost ship' SS Ourang Medan in the middle of the ocean

The SS Ourang Medan is one of the great mysteries of maritime history. (Photo: AP)

The SS Ourang Medan (or Urang Medana) is a Dutch cargo ship, found in the Strait of Malacca, Malaysia after it sent out a distress signal.

The strange thing is that the ship was discovered in a state without any surviving crew. However, the ship remained in its original state, without any valuables being stolen.

The death of the crew and the subsequent disappearance of the ship is considered one of the greatest maritime mysteries in the world, and the SS Ourang Medan is officially known as a ghost ship.

Last words from the crew

Rumors about the SS Ourang Medan began in the late 1947 and early 1948.

At this time, staff at radar stations on islands near Indonesia and Malaysia received a distress signal from the SS Ourang Medan. From the other end of the line, cries for help in terrible pain rang out.

"All officers, including the dead captain, are lying in the chart room and bridge. The entire crew is probably dead. I'm the only one left alive.", the mysterious message for know.

This is followed by a sequence of cryptic Morse codes that are sent, which are eventually resumed with the message "I'm dying", and no more signals are sent.

Two American ships, including the City of Baltimore and the Silver Star, which were sailing in the Malacca Strait, received the message and immediately began to rescue the SS Ourang Medan.

However, there were no survivors on the ship at that time. The ship crashed in the Strait of Malacca, a strait famous for pirates, but the rescue team said the ship when they landed appeared to be in its original state, with no damage.

All crew on board the SS Ourang Medan were killed. The ship then exploded, erasing all traces. (Illustration)

Before the American sailors had time to consider anything further, suddenly a fire broke out in a cargo hold forcing them to retreat.

Then, the SS Ourang Medan exploded, caught fire and sank very quickly. The explosion was so strong that the ship was "lifted out of the water", according to the US sailors.

Mysteries and speculations

The first eyewitnesses said the crew had died in a strange way: their bodies were scattered all over the deck.

Not only that, they were also discovered with their teeth bared, their faces upturned, their eyes staring at the sun, as if they were scared of something.

Even a dog on the train was killed in a growling position. Anything that kills the entire crew disappears without a trace.

The people on board all died strangely, with unknown causes. (Illustration)

In the newspapers, many variations of the story were spread over a long period of time, each with additional details that embellished the story's appeal.

Then variations on the fate of the ghost ship Ourang Medan circulated without anyone knowing where the truth began and where it ended.

The first part of the story is that there is no evidence that the ship named Ourang Medan ever existed.

American writer and historian Michael East insists there is no record of the movement of the ship named SS Ourang Medan.

"No one knows this ship or has served on it. The dates are also inconsistent, the location is constantly being changed through the stories," East said.

Some accounts say the ship was found near the Solomon Islands, while others suggest it was near the Marshall Islands.

Many theories have been put forward, but no one can confirm the exact cause of the ship's accident.

Professor Theodor Siersdorfer, a German researcher who has spent half a century researching this fascinating case, discovered an old German publication from 1953, titled Tot Totenschiffin der Südsee , or Death Ship in the South Sea.

This publication hypothesized that the bunker of the SS Ourang Medan was filled with barrels with compounds of Potassium Cyanide and Nitroglycerine.

These are all "prohibited" substances, which are transported illegally in the context of a tense international situation at the end of World War II and can cause a terrible incident if careless.

In particular, Potassium cyanide can be the cause of death of the crew, because this substance easily reacts with acids to form cyanic acid which is a volatile poison.

Nitroglycerin is a very explosive liquid that is sensitive to impact and is the main ingredient in gunpowder. This may have caused the ship to explode, and not leave any evidence behind.

After all, after more than 70 years, there is still no official conclusion as to what happened to the SS Ourang Medan. The mystery of the tragedy of the "ghost ship" Ourang Medan has become the inspiration for many artworks and film adaptations of the true event. To this day, this remains one of the greatest mysteries of maritime history.