The Ourang Medan
A ship's distress call said that all its officers were dead, then simply 'I die'. Rescuers are said to have found no one alive.
What was reported
According to stories that appeared from 1952, ships in the Strait of Malacca in 1947 or 1948 picked up a Morse distress call from a Dutch freighter, the Ourang Medan, saying that the captain and officers were dead and that perhaps the whole crew was too, followed by garbled code and the words 'I die'.
A boarding party from an American ship, the Silver Star, is said to have found everyone on board dead, with no visible injuries. Before the ship could be towed, smoke rose from the hold, and it exploded and sank.
Explanations offered
No record of a ship called Ourang Medan has been found in shipping registers, and the early accounts contradict each other on dates and places. Some think the story was invented or garbled; others suggest a smuggled cargo of dangerous chemicals or a gas leak. Nothing has been confirmed.
- When
- Said to be 1947 or 1948
- Where
- Strait of Malacca
- Witnesses
- Radio operators, according to later accounts
- Status
- Disputed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.