Photos from the amazing “Ghost Ship” fleet

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Photographer Scott Haefner fantasized for years about visiting the ‘Ghost Ships‘ of California’s Suisun Bay, a fleet of mothballed merchant ships waiting to be scrapped. But it wasn’t until recently that he and a few close friends built up the nerve to visit these abandoned wonders in person, evading round-the-clock security and ocean currents in the process. The photos he brought back of these magnificent decaying ships are just as amazing as the story of how he was able to take them to begin with.

The story of these amazing Ghost Ships starts with a government program called the Naval Defense Reserve Fleet. These mothballed merchant vessels were set aside by the government to be activated in case of emergency. At its peak in 1950, over 2,000 vessels were scattered around the coasts of the United States, included several hundred in Suisun Bay, about 30 miles north of San Francisco. Today, they sit abandoned, leaking toxic paint and heavy metals into the surrounding waters.

Working with several friends, Scott spent over two years secretly visiting the ships to meticulously photograph their interiors. Using a small inflatable raft, the crew would silently motor out the ships under cover of dark, running a test scouting mission before eventually spending whole weekends wandering and photographing the ships’ eerie rusting interiors. Even though the explorers were under constant threat of discovery (and likely arrest), they never got caught (other than one close call). You can read Scott’s full account of the experience and see more photos over at his website.

Want to explore more amazing abandoned places? Check out these Gadling galleries of 25 haunting shipwrecks and the 10 creepiest abandoned cities. The full ghost ship gallery is below.

%Gallery-125902%

The world’s ten creepiest abandoned cities

by Justin Delaney on


Some cities die. The people leave, the streets go quiet, and the isolation takes on the macabre shape of a forlorn ghost-town – crumbling with haunting neglect and urban decay. From Taiwan to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, these abandoned cities lurk in the shadows of civilization. Their histories are carried in hushed whispers and futures stillborn from the day of their collapse. Some have fallen victim to catastrophe while others simply outlive their function. I think we can all agree on one thing – they are all very creepy.

%Gallery-122246%

Pripyat
Location: Pripyat, Ukraine – 100km from Kiev
Story: On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl reactor began its tragic meltdown. The incident was a huge blow to the viability of the nuclear energy platform, and still today, the town of Pripyat is an abandoned shell of a city frozen in a 1980’s Soviet time-warp. While the failed reactor has been entombed in a an appropriate sounding casing called a “sarcophagus,” the area remains unsafe for human life. The town has thrived in one aspect though. Wildlife has returned to the area in droves. Wolves silently hunt among the towering apartment buildings, and boars forage for food in the abandoned amusement park – which strangely opened the day after the reactor explosion in the midst of evacuation.
Abandoned since: 1986

Sanzhi
Location: Sanzhi district, New Taipei, Taiwan
Story: This area called Sanzhi was originally a vacation resort catering to U.S. servicemen north of Taipei. The architecture could be called UFO futuro chic, and the abandoned resort community had difficulties from the beginning. During construction, many workers perished in car accidents, and other freak accidents were common. The urban legend online search trail places the death count close to twenty. The deaths were attributed to supernatural causes. Some speculated that the resort was built on a Dutch burial ground while others attributed the misfortunes to a dragon statue destroyed during construction. Either way, the ruins never took their first guest, and the stillborn project was abandoned.
Abandoned since: 1980


Craco
Location: Craco, Basilicata, Italy
Story: Built on a summit, Craco’s utility was initially derived from its ability to repel invaders. The town’s placement on a cliff precipice also threatened its integrity. After being rocked by a number of earthquakes and subsequent landslides, Craco was abandoned for lower ground. Today, the empty village is great for exploration and houses a number of interesting old world churches such as Santa Maria della Stella.
Abandoned since: 1963


Kolmanskop
Location: Kolmanskop, Namibia
Story: Once a successful diamond mining community, Kolmanskop is now a desert ghost town where the houses welcome only sand. The desert city was originally built when Germans discovered great mineral wealth in the area. They built the town in an architecturally German style with a ballroom, a theater, and the first tram system in Africa. The desert reclaimed the town when the miners moved on. The sands have filled houses, covered the streets, and slowly erased most signs of civilization aside from the towering homes and public buildings. The sight of a decaying German town in the shifting sands of the Namib desert is anachronistically delightful.
Abandoned since: 1954


Ghost Island
Location: Hashima Island, Nagasaki, Japan
Story: During the industrial revolution in Japan, the Mitsubishi company built this remote island civilization around large coal deposits in the Nagasaki islands. The island is home to some of Japan‘s first high rise concrete buildings, and for almost a century, mining thrived on the island. At its peak, the 15 acre island housed over five thousand residents – coal workers and their families. Today, a post-apocalyptic vibe haunts the abandoned island and the dilapidated towers and empty streets exist in a creepy industrial silence. In 2009, the island opened to tourists, so now you can take a trip to explore the Ghost Island’s abandoned movie theaters, apartment towers, and shops.
Abandoned since: 1974


Oradour-sur-Glane
Location: Oradour-sur-Glane, Limousin, France
Story: During World War II, the Nazi troops came upon Oradour-sur-Glane and completely destroyed the village, murdering 642 individuals. The burned cars and buildings remain frozen in time as they did in 1944, a reflection of the monstrosity of war and a memorial to the villagers who lost their lives. The massacre was one of mankind’s most vicious moments. All visitors to the “martyr village” are asked to remain silent while wandering the melancholy streets of tragedy.
Abandoned since: 1944


Centralia
Location: Centralia, Pennsylvania, United States
Story: The entire city of Centralia was condemned by the state of Pennsylvania and its zip code was revoked. The road that once led to Centralia is blocked off. It is as if the city does not exist at all, but it does, and it has been on fire for almost fifty years. In 1962, a fire broke out in a landfill near the Odd Fellows cemetery. The fire quickly spread through a hole to the coal mine beneath the city, and the fires have been burning ever since. Smoke billows out from cracks in the road and large pits in the ground randomly open up releasing thousand degree heat and dangerous vapors into the air. The city has been slowly evacuated over the years, though some residents have chosen to stay, believing that the evacuation is a conspiracy plot by the state to obtain their mineral rights to the anthracite coal reserves below their homes. Smells like lawyers to me.
Abandoned since: still marginally occupied by 10 or so brave souls


Humberstone
Location: Northern Atacama desert, Chile
Story: Declared a UNESCO heritage site in 2005, Humberstone was once a bustling saltpeter refinery in the desert of northern Chile. Life on the moonscape of the Chilean pampas is extremely sparse, and outposts like Humberstone served as work and home for many Pampino miners. The hostile environment proved a menacing part of everyday life for Humberstone residents. Their efforts to extract nitrates from the largest saltpeter deposit in the world transformed farming in Europe and the Americas in the form of fertilizer sodium nitrate.
Abandoned since: 1960

Bodie
Location: Bodie, California, United States
Story: The poster boy for a ghost town, Bodie is absolutely stunning in its dereliction. The boom-town over 8,000 feet up in the Sierra Nevadas was a gold rush outpost, and, at its height in the 1880’s, allegedly one of the largest cities in California. 65 saloons lined the dusty mile long main street, meaning the saloon to resident ratio was definitely high enough to keep the sheriff busy. Beyond the swilling of brews though, Bodie developed into a city filled with big town characteristics like churches, hospitals, four fire departments, and even a Chinatown district. Today, visitors are free to to walk the deserted streets of this town built on gold and hope.
Abandoned since: 1942, though the last issue of the local newspaper, The Bodie Miner, was printed in 1912.


Kayaköy
Location: Kayaköy, Muğla, Turkey
Story: Thousands of Greek speaking Christians lived in this town just south of Fethiye in southwestern Turkey for hundreds of years. The rather large village has been a virtual ghost town since the end of the Greco-Turkish War. Over 500 houses and several Greek Orthodox churches populate this garden of decaying structures. Some hope exists for a resurgence of this old city, as organic farmers and craftsmen have began to trickle in to this fringe community.
Abandoned since: 1923

Follow Justin Delaney on twitter

Family leaves child in the back of a cab

by Katie Hammel on

First some poor kid was left sleeping on a park bench when his family drove off without him in their motor home. Now another sleeping kid has gotten left behind, this time in a cab that her family had taken from the airport to their house in Boston. When they got inside, they realized the five-year old child wasn’t with them, and called the police.

The police were able to locate the cab driver, who had no idea he was carrying extra cargo. He returned the child to her parents and received a $50 tip. Then he found out he might face suspension of his license for failing to thoroughly check the backseat. The driver appealed and on Tuesday, according to the Boston Herald, police dropped the suspension with a warning for the cabbie to check his car more carefully next time.

Just another reason to make sure you keep tabs on your belongings at all times when traveling. . . especially if those “belongings” are your children.

Tour Detroit’s “good, bad, and hopeful” sides

by Katie Hammel on

Detroit gets a bad rap. So bad, it was voted the “Least Favorite” city in a recent TripAdvisor poll. But one local is trying to help both visitors and residents get a better understanding of the city, to see that maybe it’s not the punch line everyone thinks it is.

Linda Yellin, the creator of Feet on the Street Tours, runs walking, bike, and bus tours of the city for individuals and tour groups. One of the most popular tours is called “The Good, the Bad, and the Hopeful – You Be the Judge”. It’s held the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month and costs $25 per person. Says Yellin, “We created the city sightseeing bus tour . . . because we wanted people to see and decide for themselves – not just assume what they hear or read is correct. We guarantee that people will get a new view of [Detroit].”

As the title of the tour implies, the goal is to show all sides of Detroit. Instead of glossing over the city’s blight, the tour will take you past plenty of crumbling buildings and abandoned lots, and explain the circumstances that led to the city’s current condition. It will also show you the institutions that have stood strong in the city for years and the rich history surrounding them. The tour will take you past the “hopeful” too – the signs of life being breathed into the city in the form of new shops and restaurants and a burgeoning local art scene.

Tours can be customized to focus on Detroit’s history, architecture, music, culture, food, or art, or to concentrate on a certain neighborhood of the city. Learning about the history of Motown Records in Detroit, exploring the festive neighborhood of Greektown, gallery-hopping to see works from the city’s up and coming artists, or sampling fresh produce and local specialties from the vendors at Eastern Market are among a few of the options.

Top seven forgotten Soviet-era attractions

by Jerry Guo on

I’ve recently written about urban ruins in Detroit (it’s almost the “perfect” city for visiting abandoned structures, if you think about it). But for something a little more exotic and even sinister, you’ll have to fly to Russia. Here are the top seven “abandoned wonders” of the Soviet Union, courtesy of the good folks at the all things urban blog WebUrbanist.

  • Promyshlennyi, an entire abandoned city–very gloomy feeling
  • A once-secret military submarine base–feels straight out of James Bond’s Goldeneye
  • A gulag–looks less scary without the guards who will shoot you on sight
  • New (but abandoned) buildings–this can only happen in Russia
  • Former missile silo–may be the only decommissioned missile silo open to tourists.
  • Oceanside fortress–comes with miles of secret tunnels, free of charge
  • Your generic giant satellites, mining scoopers, and other heavy machinery–the satellite is the size of a soccer field just to give you some perspective