Sao Thuy 09 - A Sunken Ship

“How does that ship feel when lying alone in the middle of the sea?” That's the question that came to my mind in a camping trip at Son Tra Peninsula in Da Nang when sitting on a high cliff looking at the ship Sao Thuy 09, a cargo ship that sank about 50m from the shore at Da Nang beach.

Taken by a friend Tung Le - His FB

It was a day in early March 2021, I had solo camping at night at Son Tra Peninsula. I climbed along the high cliff next to the sea and found a steep high point from which to sit and watch Da Nang city light up. I decided not to light a fire, I wanted to let the darkness envelop and feel it fully. From my place, Sao Thuy 09 Ship appeared in the night with beautiful dim light, and looked a bit ghostly. And I had made the crazy decision thatI was going to swim out to that ship that night because I was so curious.

At 10 pm, I went to sleep and set the alarm. At 2:10 am, I woke up, warmed up carefully, then lightly watered my body to gradually acclimate my body temperature and started swimming to the ship. "COLD" was my first feeling when I was submerged in water. I slowly swam out to the ship, the sea was calm and easy to swim. First, I swam around the ship, then swam out about 10m from the ship, lying on my back on the water looking at the night sky. The crescent moon was covered by clouds, the sea was calm, the wind blew gently, the city lights in the distance reflected on the shimmering water beautifully. Everything seemed so peaceful and marvellous here. After a while I climbed onto the ship and sat quietly watching the sea. Sometimes, a small fishing boat passed by and shined a light on me. There was a very strange feeling that I can hardly describe in words. About 20 minutes later, I got into the water and swam back to shore to dry off and got change. That night I couldn't fall back to sleep again because of the thoughts about the ship and the beautiful calm images of the night sea.

On another occasion, my biking group had visited the coast that overlooking the ship Sao Thuy 09 again to take pictures. I suddenly got excited and jumped into water to swim to that ship again. Under the daylight, the ship appeared old and rusty with oysters and snails clinging to the hull, which gave me goose bumps (I have a fear of small holes - Trypophobia). After climbing onto the front of the ship that was still floating on the water, I looked at the ship's hull that had sunk under the blue water, the hull now appeared blurred and black, giving me a rather creepy feeling, different from the feeling when I met her at the night before.

Sometimes I think I'm so crazy, but I'm glad because I'm probably the one that experienced the most. And since the ship is being scrapped for salvage, there probably won't be a chance to look at it again.

Thanks for reading my stories.