Invisible Explosion Explains Why Famous ‘Mary Celeste’ Ghost Ship Crew Jumped Overboard

The most famous ghost ship in nautical history was the Mary Celeste, a brigantine which was found drifting without a captain or its 7 crew members near the Azores in December 1872. Since then, many have tried to solve the mystery of this vessel whose cargo was also intact when it was first discovered.

While theories ranged from pirate raids and mutiny to sea monsters and even paranormal phenomena, science has finally provided a definitive answer to the question: Why was Mary Celeste found in a perfectly seaworthy condition with a missing lifeboat?

The proven explanation is an invisible vapour explosion that vanished in no time, leaving no physical trace, such as charred wood or burn marks.

Maly Celeste was carrying 1,701 barrels of industrial ethanol from a freezing New York winter into a much warmer climate of the Atlantic.

Findings later revealed that the 9 wooden barrels had leaked, releasing roughly 300 gallons of ethanol into the enclosed, poorly ventilated hold.

As temperatures rose past 13°C, the critical flashpoint of ethanol, the air below deck became saturated with highly combustible vapours.

Ship logs show that the ship encountered bad weather on its journey, which led the crew to batten down the hatches, creating a sealed chamber below the deck which gradually filled with dangerous ethanol fumes.

Once the weather conditions improved, the crew opened the hatches, enabling oxygen to rush inside, creating a flammable mixture.

Researchers will not know what exactly caused the fire, but it would have taken a tiny spark to trigger a massive blast.

In the past, the explosion theory was rejected as no soot, or burn marks or fire damage was found anywhere on the vessel.

In 2006, Dr Andrea Sella at University College London experimented by simulating a similar vapour explosion inside a replica hold using butane and paper cubes.

The result was a spectacular wave of flame which left the paper cubes entirely unburned due to the cool air left behind the fast-moving pressure wave.

Following this trajectory, scientists Jack Rowbotham and Frank Mair from the University of Manchester went a step further by using an accurate 1:18 scale model constructed with wood and ethanol.

They also replicated the warm temperatures of the Azores and introduced a minor spark, similar to the one which could be produced by rubbing barrels or striking metal together.

It led to an explosion which blew the model’s hatches open and through the flame reached 2,000 °C. It disappeared in a heartbeat, leaving zero physical traces, soot, or charring on the wood.

Hence, scientists concluded that a blast might have blown open the hatches of the vessel, which might have created panic onboard the Mary Celeste.

Captain Benjamin Briggs, fearing the entire cargo might detonate, ordered everyone to leave in the lifeboat.

The crew might have tied themselves to the ship only for a snapped towline or a squall, which might have left them adrift at the mercy of the waves, which ultimately took their lives.