Search for missing Malaysian plane discovers wreck of Clyde coal ship
Now one of the many casualties of the trade, a Clyde-built barque lost since 1883, has been discovered on the sea bed off Australia.
The West Ridge, a 220ft iron ship heading for India, has been located by searchers hunting for missing Malaysian airliner MH370 which vanished in mysterious circumstances in 2014.
Crews have been scouring the Indian Ocean for the aircraft, which was carrying 239 passengers, but have had little luck in finding any wreckage.
However, during the search two large shipwrecks were discovered off Western Australia. They have now been identified as 19th century merchant sailing vessels believed to have been carrying coal.
One is almost certainly the West Ridge, which was lost en route to India in July 1883. The 1,405-ton ship, built in Glasgow in 1869, was known to be carrying British coal to India and its dimensions fitted those of one of the wrecks.
Remains of the vessels were found 1,430 miles off the coast at depths of about two miles, roughly 22 miles apart, in May and December 2015.
The Western Australian Museum in Perth analysed sonar and video data taken by the searchers, and said the ships were on the Roaring Forties trade route.
Some of the coal scattered on the seabed was recovered and analysed, allowing scientists to identify it as British in origin. Experts believe one of the ships had a wooden hull and the other had an iron hull.
One ship appears to have sunk as a result of a catastrophic event such as an explosion, which was common in the transport of coal, according to maritime archaeology curator Ross Anderson.
The wooden wreck was more intact and lying upright. ‘Historical research into all 19th century merchant ships that disappeared in international waters is incomplete so we cannot conclusively determine identity of the individual ships,’ Dr Anderson said.
‘However, we can narrow the possibilities to some prime candidates based on available information from predominantly British shipping sources.’ Both ships are likely to have had crews of 15 to 30 men. Between 1878 and 1886 more than 300 British-registered coal ships were lost at sea. Sometimes captains brought their wives and children, and both vessels may have carried additional passengers, the museum said.
‘Then, as now, the disappearance of so many lives would have had a devastating impact on maritime families and communities,’ Dr Anderson told ABC News. TRANSPORTING coal by sea was once one of the world’s most hazardous jobs – the cargo had a nasty habit of exploding.