Tourists sunbathe metres away from wreck of abandoned cruise ship
You can bathe in the shadow of an enormous wrecked cruise ship on a beautiful sandy beach.
The sinking of the MS World Discoverer in 2000 was surprisingly successful as massive disasters go, with all the passengers aboard successfully transported to safety after the vessel smashed into an object beneath the surface.
The captain was left aboard to steer the vessel towards a beach on the Solomon Island archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, where a later survey judged the ship to be a total write-off.
As a result the MS World Discoverer was abandoned and left right there, to slowly fall apart as the years went by and the salty water continued to lap against it.
Today, 23 years later, the enormous vessel presents a particularly striking sight next to a beach that is frequented by tourists.
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The once vibrant painted metal work has flaked away significantly, to be replaced by a spread of rust that is moving across the bow.
If you swim around the ship from the beach and look at it from the sea side, it looks as if the trees on the shoreline are growing through it, due to the way greenery has started to burst through the vessel.
It has been left remarkably close to the beach and allowed to topple over as it sinks down, meaning it is very accessible for those who paddle to it from the shore.
Clambering aboard is almost certainly a terrible idea however, given how the boat is slowly falling apart and how a slippery, rusting hulk of a ship is possibly the best place to get tetanus.
The ship has spent 23 years sinking into the water (Alamy Stock Photo)While getting on it isn't wise, many people visiting the Solomon Islands are drawn to the magnificent ship and to the idea of it slowly being reclaimed by the ocean.
Some come for a glimpse of the MS World Discover and then spend the day lounging on the sands of the beach, watching little fish swim around the ruin.
If you fancy learning a little more about the ship's history, tours can be arranged. It is also possible to rent a trio of over-water bungalows nearby, each with great views of the vessel.
The ship is 87m in length and started its life in 1974 when construction began in a German shipyard.
The ship was ransacked shortly after it sank (Alamy Stock Photo)Just shy of 140 could ride onboard what was when the world's second purpose built exhibition ship, designed to give passengers a chance to see less trod parts of the world's seas and oceans.
The Discoverer featured an observation lounge, a library, a sun deck with a swimming pool and a small fitness centre.
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A double hull construction allowed for periodic voyages to the Antarctic polar regions so passengers could see ice floe movements, while a fleet of dinghies let them get close to the action nearer to the water surface.
Despite the extra reinforcement, on April 30, 2000, the ship struck an uncharted reef while sailing in much warmer waters - the Solomon Islands' Sandfly Passage.
A distress signal was transmitted and passengers were all ferried safely to shore on lifeboats, but the ship could not be saved.
When an audit of the sunken craft was later made the damage to the underside was considered too great and, with the contents of the ship having been ransacked, the cost of saving it too high.
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