It did not even enter the top ten most dangerous zones for shipping in the World Ocean
The Bermuda Triangle is considered one of the most mystical places on the planet. According to numerous publications, airplanes and ships regularly disappear on its territory (an area of about 3 million square kilometers).
However, Australian scientist Karl Krushelnitsky, who has studied documents on disasters in the area, claims that the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle has been sucked out of the blue.
At the time of Captain Jack Sparrow, the Caribbean Sea and the surrounding area really enjoyed a well-deserved notoriety, the researcher explains. But there was no mystery here. The ship disappearances have been linked to the era of piracy in the region. Here were the routes of ships carrying treasures and goods obtained as a result of the colonization of America. But by the beginning of the 18th century, piracy had disappeared. And for several centuries this region of the World Ocean practically did not stand out from others.
Where ships sink most often. Photo: DMITRY POLUKHIN / kp.ru
A LEGEND GIVEN BY HANGERS AND ROOT
For the first time the concept of "Bermuda Triangle" in its current meaning appeared in the press in the 50s of the last century. It was caused by the disaster of a flight of 5 Avenger torpedo bombers and the Mariner seaplane that took off to search for them. It happened in 1945.
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- In fact, there is nothing mysterious in this story, - notes Krushelnitsky. - Having studied the documents, you will plunge into the atmosphere of a traditional army mess, which clarifies a lot. In fact, 13 of the 14 pilots were cadets without the necessary training. And the only pilot with experience - Lieutenant Taylor - came to the service with a deep hangover. He took off without a compass on board, and his track record already included two stories when he lost his orientation in the air and only by a miracle the dispatchers managed to return him home. From the transcript of the negotiations between the pilots and coastal services, it is clear that the pilots were lost in the ocean, and Taylor again was unable to correctly plot the course back. Considering that there was a storm that day and 15-meter high waves were walking on the sea, the flight had no chance of surviving when landing on the water. As for the search seaplane "Mariner", its fate is clear - the crew of the tanker, located off the coast of Florida, reported an explosion that she saw in the air. Later, a large oil slick was recorded in this area. And all the Mariners had a drawback - with a large load of fuel, vapors leaked into the cabin. Any spark would cause an explosion. And similar cases have already happened with this type of apparatus.
Nevertheless, this story gave rise to the legend of the Bermuda Triangle. For the next 70 years, ships and aircraft continued to disappear here. But, according to the Australian scientist, in terms of statistics, the situation with ship and aircraft accidents in the Bermuda Triangle is no different from the situation in other areas with such heavy traffic. Rather the opposite.
BEWARE OF THE CORAL TRIANGLE
In 2013, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) published a study, where, based on mathematical analysis, they named the 10 most dangerous places for navigation on the planet (see diagram). The Bermuda Triangle was not included in this rating. And it was headed by another triangle - coral. The pinnacles of this geometric figure are Japan, Fiji and Malaysia, where three quarters of all the coral reefs of the planet are located. With some of the most biodiversity on earth in the Pacific, it is no surprise that the Coral Triangle has significantly higher shipping density than Bermuda. Accordingly, a record number of maritime disasters has been registered here - 293 over 13 years. For comparison, an average of 146 ships die annually around the world. In its turn,the notoriety of the Bermuda Triangle has been attributed to the disappearance of 19 aircraft and 11 ships since 1800. It is clear that this list includes only the loudest and most resonant cases. But the order of the numbers still speaks for itself.
Therefore, the Bermuda Triangle is nothing more than a beautiful, but unsubstantiated legend. Like the Loch Ness monster or Bigfoot.
More than 105,000 ships sail the World Ocean. Photo: DMITRY POLUKHIN / kp.ru
Top 3 most sinister places on Earth
Where are the largest underwater ship graveyards.
1st place
Goodwin's Strait is a 16-kilometer-long sandbank in the English Channel, 10 kilometers off the coast of Kent. The area is a bustling trade route between the French port of Calais and English Dover. If you remember, it was along this route that d'Artagnan's path ran when he saved the honor of the queen in the story with diamond pendants. Scientists estimate that a total of more than 2,000 ships sank near this shallow.
2nd place
Cape Hatteras is the extreme southeastern point of North America. Here the warm Gulf Stream and the cold Labrador Current collide. These tail currents have always attracted sailors, who used them as a catapult to cross the Atlantic Ocean faster. But not everyone succeeded in doing this. More than a thousand ships have been wrecked in these areas since 1526, when records began to be kept. This area is called the Atlantic Cemetery.
3rd place
Sable Island is another fateful place in the Atlantic. It is a small Canadian island 180 kilometers from Nova Scotia. It is composed of quicksand and is 40 miles in circumference. At the same time, the island itself changes its location at a rate of 200 meters per year. Since the 17th century, that is, since the beginning of observations, 475 ships have sunk here.
YAROSLAV KOROBATOV