Ourang Medan

Referenced in 1 episode

Definition

A ship said to have sent a distress call in the late 1940s in Indonesian waters claiming all officers and crew were dead. Rescuers reportedly found the crew dead with terrified expressions before the ship caught fire and exploded. Explanations range from smuggled toxic chemicals to paranormal causes, and some doubt the ship ever existed.

Related episodes

A Tale of Ghost Ships Three!

Astonishing LegendsSep 27, 2026

In 1933, a Scottish botanist reportedly saw the abandoned steamship Baychimo drifting past the Alaskan coast on an ice floe, appearing upside down in a strange mirage with no crew aboard. Abandoned two years earlier, the Baychimo kept resurfacing across the Arctic for decades and became one of history's most famous ghost ships. This episode examines the Baychimo alongside two other legendary vessels, the frozen Octavius and the Ourang Medan, whose crew was reportedly found mysteriously dead shortly before the ship exploded and sank.

FS 5