ship graveyards – ghost ships at rest

Updated: February 5, 2026 (Originally published October 1, 2007)

Today Fred Fry linked to an interesting post containing photos, video and the stories behind some of the world’s largest iron graveyards. One of the more interesting entries is of the bay of nouadhibou, mauritania. Fogonazos tells us:

The Bay of Nouadhibou, seven miles south from the Mauritanian city, hides one the biggest ship cemeteries in the world. There are more than 300 wrecks around the harbor, resting for years and coming from all nations.

A brief walk through Google Maps will show you hundreds of skeletons piled here and there, at the biggest collection of rusty giant ships you could ever imagine.

However, there isn’t any magic or mystery in this squalid place. For years, Mauritanian harbor officers were so corrupt, that they let ships be discarded in the harbor in exchange of some cash. Discarding a ship is quite expensive for a company, so during the decades, lots of unwanted ships ended up in the harbor of Nouadibou. Read More…

Apparently some of these ships are inhabited by some of the less fortunate Mauritians Mauritanians.

For the original story and information on other interesting transportation graveyards CLICK HERE.

Links:

• Video of Nouadhibou Bay

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