ghost ship
Abandoned drifting vessel
A ghost ship is a vessel found adrift at sea with no living crew aboard—sometimes with cargo intact, meals half-eaten, no explanation for the abandonment.
The term extends to ships that appear mysteriously, often in fog or legend: The Flying Dutchman is the most famous ghost ship.
More loosely, any derelict or abandoned vessel qualifies.
Abandoned or neglectful
- adriftFloating without control
- crewlessHaving no personnel aboard
- desertedLeft behind, uninhabited
- forsakenCompletely abandoned or discarded
marooned · unmanned · drifting · empty · uninhabited · disappeared · missing · lost
Large historical sailing ship
- schoonerMulti-masted sailing craft
- frigateMedium-sized naval warship
- vesselReceptacle for contents
- hullOuter covering or frame
mast · rigging · deck · cargo hold · anchor · bow · stern · shipwreck
Ghostly threatening presence
- phantomInsubstantial apparition
- apparitionVisible supernatural manifestation
- poltergeistDisruptive supernatural entity
- hauntingDisturbingly unforgettable
supernatural · paranormal · curse · possession · seance · medium · exorcism · spectral
Something hard to fathom
- unexplainedNot yet clarified
- vanishedDisappeared from sight
- investigationFormal examination of facts
- cluesHints toward answers
theories · conspiracy · legend · lore · riddle · unsolved · anomaly · speculation
derelict
Abandoned or neglectful
forsaken · marooned · unmanned · drifting · empty · uninhabited · disappeared · missing · lost · evacuated
galleon
Large historical sailing ship
hull · mast · rigging · deck · cargo hold · anchor · bow · stern · shipwreck · seafaring
specter
Ghostly threatening presence
- phantomInsubstantial apparition
- apparitionVisible supernatural manifestation
- poltergeistDisruptive supernatural entity
haunting · supernatural · paranormal · curse · possession · seance · medium · exorcism · spectral · ethereal
enigma
Something hard to fathom
- unexplainedNot yet clarified
- vanishedDisappeared from sight
- investigationFormal examination of facts
clues · theories · conspiracy · legend · lore · riddle · unsolved · anomaly · speculation · circumstances
eerie
Disturbingly strange
- ominousSuggesting something bad approaches
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- sinisterThreateningly suggestive of harm
chilling · uncanny · gloomy · shadowy · creaking · fog · mist · darkness · silence · decay
- sea talespirate story, sea stories, sea story, mermaid tale, shipwrecks
- Ghost ShipsFlying Dutchman, Mary Celeste, Octavius, Jenny, Marlborough
- mythic vehicleschariot, flying carpet, Argo, chariot of fire, magic carpet
- boatsboat, canoe, kayak, yacht, ferry
- Eerie Placeshaunted house, haunted mansion, haunted castle, catacombs, graveyard
- sea lorekraken, mermaids, mermaid, sea serpent, sirens
ghost shipmerchant ship
Vessel for transporting goods
cruise ship · passenger liner · battleship · cargo ship · commercial vessel