History has been filled with many disasters, and unfortunately, a lot of them have been at sea.

If you think of the hit film series, the Pirates of the Caribbean, which is the most popular films-saga that portrays what life was like at sea a few centuries ago, minus the monsters that are, there have been many disasters surrounding ships in the world.

Of course, these ships weren’t attacked by pirates, but they did endure a somewhat tragic ending. There have been countless shipwrecks, and while no life on a ship is considered more important than another, there are a few that stand out the most, due to the severity of their disasters.

The Worst Maritime Disasters

#1 MV Dona Paz

Famously known as the greatest maritime disaster, which occurred in 1987. This ferry’s set sail to the Philippines when it collided head-on with an oil tanker, which leads to both ships to catch flame.

It is considered one of the most tragic maritime disaster because 4,341 people died in the fire. Only 24 people survived.

#2 SS Kiangya

A Chinese steamship, the Kiangya, exploded after striking a mine, on the Huangpu River. This disaster occurred in 1948. Among the estimated 4,000 victims that lost their lives, most were refugees from the Chinese Civil War, making it difficult to estimate exactly how many people died.

#3 MV Le Joola

Owned by the Senegalese government, this ferry was capsized close to Gambia, as it went too far from the coast and into a storm in September 2002, killing nearly 4,000 people. Only 64 survived.

#4 SS Mont-Blanc

The SS Mont-Blanc was a French ammunition freighter, that exploded in Halifax Harbour. This explosion was famously known as the Halifax explosion and occurred due to the freighter colliding with a ship, that killed more than 2,000 people and injured approximately 9,000 more.

#5 SS Sultana

This vessel was a steamboat paddle-wheeler, which was on its way to returning Union soldiers from Confederate camps, where they were held captive during the Civil War.

The accident occurred in April 1865, when the vessel exploded, as a result of its boilers exploding. It was the most severe American maritime disaster in history and killed over 1,600 people.

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