The Malay Peninsula is separated from the Samutra Island by the Strait of Malacca. This place is characterized by quite busy shipping. Dozens of ships pass here every day. They usually get to their destination ports on time. But it happens, however, very rarely that stories happen to the courts that fall into the category of unusual. Here is one of them.
June 1947. The Dutch ship Urang Medan (Man of Medan) transmits SOS. The place of the ship's disaster was the Mallack Strait.
In addition to the distress signal, a text was received. The radio operator reported that all team members died unexpectedly. What followed was a meaningless set of short and long signals used in Morse code. Then the final part of the message: "I am dying." This ended the transmission from the ship in distress.
Not much time passed, and the American ship Silver Star approached Ourang Medan. The appearance of the "Dutchman" in distress did not indicate any damage. There was no movement visible on the ship. The team did not respond to signals given by the Americans. A group of sailors was sent to Urang Medan with the Silver Star.
The appearance of the "Dutchman" in distress did not indicate any damage.
Once on board the ship in distress, the Americans saw a picture that fully corresponded to the text of the message received. The entire crew, including the dog, was dead. There were no visible causes that could lead to death. The only thing that spoke of death due to extraneous influence was that the expression of horror was frozen on the faces of the dead. At the last moment, they gazed at the sun with their mouths and eyes wide open.
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When inspecting the ship, no damage was found. The only peculiarity was the very low temperature in the hold. After a short time, smoke began to rise from it, raising suspicions that something was wrong with the ship. The sailors urgently returned to their ship. A little time passed and there was an explosion. Smoke-filled Urang Medan went to the bottom.
What happened to the Dutch ship and its crew?
This is not known to this day. The vessel is believed to have been driven by nitroglycerin and potassium cyanide. Both substances, when interacting with water, are dangerous. It is possible that the sailors were poisoned by hydrogen cyanide, and the explosion was a consequence of the detonation of nitroglycerin. What caused the detonation? It is possible that there was some other compound in the hold that provided her.
Another version - something caught fire in the hold
Carbon monoxide came out and caused the team to be poisoned. However, not only those who were in the ship's rooms died, but also on the open deck, where carbon monoxide would have been scattered by the wind. In addition, it is not known why the ship sank.
The crew could be affected by infrasound - says another version. Low frequency vibrations have a negative impact on people. The consequence of their impact can be panic, anxiety, horror. Sudden cardiac arrest can occur due to such fluctuations.
An interesting detail. Historian Roy Bainton, who investigated the mysterious case of the ship, while searching the archives of Amsterdam, added another mystery to this story. It turned out that the ship in distress was not registered in Dutch ports. Inquiries were sent to Singapore. But no answer has been received.
Why are there no official data? The reason may be that the catastrophe occurred a short time after the end of the Second World War. The ship might well have been carrying some kind of chemical weapon.
Although a lot of time has passed since the disaster, during which attempts were made to find a solution, and now nothing is known about the reasons for the death of Urang Medan. The mystery page has not yet been closed.