DESCRIPTION:
I’ve had a lot of good days in my time in Melaka, but this day exploring this rusting ship graveyard has to be one of my favorites. It’s actually an artificial island—a byproduct of a massive, failed land reclamation project— and I came to think of it as an “Island of Misfit Ships.” All around me were dozens of massive barges, dredgers, boats, and other pieces of heavy industrial equipment, all of them beached, half-sunk, and abandoned.
The adventure started with a short walk across a rough bridge to explore this surreal landscape. I was lucky in that I was able to get up close with the colossal Oceanline barges, see the massive dredging pipes and anchors, and try to uncover the mystery of why all these ships were left to rust. I wanted to know is it a scrapyard? A place for seized vessels? Or a monument to a construction boom that went bust? I’ll share what I discovered about the failed Eco Marine project (and others) that left this place and its massive machinery behind.
What you’ll see in this video:
Getting past security to access the island.
Exploring huge, abandoned dredging barges.
The incredible scale of the beached ships.
The story behind Malaysia’s ghost ships and failed land reclamation.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
If I’m walking along the shore that leads to this island with all of the ships on it.
Yeah, it’s just 9:00 in the morning, but yeah, it’s amazing how high the sun is in the sky already at 9:00 in the morning and how hot it is. So, the idea here is to approach the bridge to the island from this direction. I’ll park my bike underneath some trees up there, lock it up, and then walk across the bridge onto the island and then yeah, see what happens. There’s a possibility I won’t even make it. There could be someone on the other side of the bridge on the island. I can actually see a shack there now that I’d never noticed before. Could be a security shack and they could just stop me right there and that could be as far as I get on this little adventure. I hope I can get a bit farther than that, but we’ll see what happens.
All right, so this is as far as I got last time.
Now I see a vehicle. I think a van parked beside the security shack on this side. And that could mean that there’s security over here. And if that’s the case, I won’t be making any progress at all.
This might be why the vehicle is waiting here. Could be to pick up these men. And the men that just got off this small transport, I think they were inspecting that big boat there right in front of me. I saw them walking around on the deck and up on the upper decks. But yeah, those men got into that van and they drove away. So, it’s time to go for a walk across this bridge and see if I can get a closer look at some of these boats. Here we go. The coast is clear. Except for the crows. The whole time that I’ve been sitting here, all these crows, they just don’t like me being near them. So, they kept getting closer and closer to me on the branches, cawing and cawing. Kind of telling me to go away.
Let’s go down to the beach here just for a second.
Yeah. While I’ve been sitting here, I’ve seen a number of pickup trucks go across the bridge. So, a lot of crews go back and forth from the peninsula over to the island. So, as far as I know, the island is called Pulau Klebang Selatan, which I think means South Klebang Island, but that’s all I know about it. I’ve only heard rumors and read rumors online. Some people said the ships here were basically a scrapyard and that they were tearing ships apart for scrap metal. But it doesn’t look that way to me. These boats don’t look like they’re being cut to pieces and being recycled. You’d hear a lot of noise if that were the case, like the shipyards in Bangladesh. Lot of hammering, lot of industrial sound. I don’t hear that. Other people said that this was a place where they stored boats that were seized in the Malacca Strait because they were illegal or pirates or didn’t have the proper documents or whatever. And then probably the most logical explanation is that they are all just connected with the land reclamation projects ongoing. So that these are all barges that are used for land reclamation all up and down the coast of Melaka. So there’s the bridge that I came across. So far, yeah, there’s no warning signs or security on either side telling me I’m not supposed to be here. So I’ll just walk around a little bit, get close to these ships. Ocean Line 237.
So, it seems to be a pretty common story all up and down the coast here that back in the early 2000s and the 2010s, there was a lot of plans for developing this whole coastline, like big plans. And so they started doing land reclamation and then they completed the land reclamation. Let’s walk up onto this barge. Look at this. That’s amazing.
And then at some point the funding dried up for the actual development. So they have the land like this area over here. I think it was supposed to be what they call the Eco Marine Park. And as I said it was like 200 acres of reclaimed land. It’s this huge peninsula, the Eco Marine Park. And it was meant to be a 10,000 seat luxury convention center. They pulled the submarine, like the submarine museum is located here. They did bring that out and then they built this luxury hotel and that was supposed to draw people over and then they were going to have floating villas all kinds of things and then for whatever reason the whole project just got abandoned and it just sits there empty. The only completed projects are what I already mentioned, the five-star hotel there and the submarine museum. That’s it. And that happened all up and down the coast of Melaka. Yeah. Isn’t that amazing? This huge barge. And I think that ship there is also kind of a reclamation barge for pulling up sand dredging basically. I think that’s what it’s designed to do. Wow.
I mean these definitely look abandoned, right? They’re not being cut up and recycled, but I doubt that these two barges that I’m on could be operational ever again. A ship like that, I don’t know. Looks pretty bad. The Tailong 6 looks pretty bad because of all the rust and it’s beached basically. It’s not floating, but why? I don’t know anything about ships. Maybe you can slap on a new coat of paint, put some oil in the engine, and put it back to work. I don’t know. Look at that over there. The Ocean Line 261. Just endless ships out here. Look at the size of that anchor. My gosh, the amount of steel that goes into these things. And it sounds like a very naive thing to say because I understand the physics. I know how ships float. So I shouldn’t be amazed that a ship this huge and heavy can float on the water. But still at a common sense level, you think about the mass of steel sitting in front of us right here and then this thing floats on the water. It just it’s counterintuitive, isn’t it? It really is. I have no idea what this gizmo is. Must be part of a dredging mechanism sucking up dirt and sand and gravel from the ocean floor. Giant pipeline basically. Can you imagine the size of the engines they must have to have like a suction that could drive something like this? That’s I’m assuming that’s what it’s doing, right? Looks like a giant hose, a metal hose. Ocean Line 262 282. So, these are all connected over here. Ocean Line 261.
So far so good. Nobody yelling at me, telling me to go away. So, I’m free to wander around for a few more minutes. Anyway, see those ships behind me that I was just checking out. Even this one, from a distance, it didn’t look that big. Ocean Line 261. But now, when you get this close to it, it’s massive. And that’s a small ship compared to those big ones out there, the huge liners out on the Malacca Strait. This one right here is just a toy. But standing below it, it looks massive.
Coming around the other side of Ocean Line 261. Yeah, you can see it’s beached. It’s not floating either. But yeah, look at this. When have you ever seen the bulbous end of a ship like this where there’s a giant hole in it? I’ve certainly never seen that. I’ve seen a lot of this in the water. You know, you see these ships with these big noses on them cutting through the water, but I’ve never been this close to one. Certainly never one as rusted out as this.
Crazy.
Yeah, this island of misfit ships is more than living up to my expectations. From Google Maps satellite view, it looked pretty impressive, but here on the ground, it looks way more impressive.
I’m hearing some deep thundering noises. I hope that’s something construction and not thunderstorms.
Yeah, there seem to be a lot more ships, a lot more of these big ships beached here than I saw on a Google Maps satellite view.
A chain holding this barge in place. I had to climb up this relatively steep wall of sand. And then as I was trying to get up here, I heard this very spooky creaking noise. At times it sounded like music playing or children or dogs whining, but it turned out it was just this. You can hear the creaking of the metal. This gangplank moving a little bit as the barge moves on the water a little bit.
Yeah, it’s a very spooky sound.
And there are the crows of Melaka. They’re following me around.
What do they call it? It’s not a flock, is it? Everybody always makes the joke that a group of crows is called a murder, right? A murder of crows. So, I have a murder tracking me as I go through this island of misfit ships.
I guess someone who was incredibly determined could climb up one of these ropes and get onto this ship. But I think I’ll draw the line there. I’m content with where I am. I don’t need to challenge myself to climb up one of these ropes. I’ll stay on my feet. Thank you very much. I can just look at this ship from the side. Yeah, this ship has seen some things. Pieces of metal here just ripped apart.
And here’s the very end of it by the water. Yeah, you get a lot of metal sound in the wind. Makes it kind of spooky. Oh, look at that. A ladder.
So, yeah, they put a ladder here to climb up onto that boat. But again, I think I’ll just stick to the ground here on the barge.
Wow, that is a sight. I guess this one or something sank. Something is underwater here. But look at this size of this dredging pipe.
Think of that as a straw sucking up your cup of McDonald’s Coke. How much force would you need to pull on this pipe to be able to suck up sand from the floor of the ocean? That would be incredible.
Yeah, I love this view. This really gives you a sense of what this place is all about.
So, what I’m seeing more and more is giving me the idea that these ships really have been abandoned. Like I said before I came out here, I did have some idea that maybe they were just storing the ships here, waiting for the funding to come back for the land reclamation, and then they would put these ships back to work. But no, these ships, whatever this is, it’s never working again. That’s pretty clear.
But they also don’t seem to be recycling anything.
Yeah, crows are still following me.
Whoa. What is this? A barge. And I wonder what it was designed to do. I have no idea. Even have like a crow’s nest up there. So, whoever sits up there climbs up that ladder and controls this whole mechanism. Something to do with dredging sand, water. A crazy looking set of gear there.
Ooh, looks like I can go out to Ocean Line 237. I think that might be the number.
Yeah, this is a makeshift ladder. Feels pretty solid. I don’t feel any movement. So, as long as I don’t get distracted by my GoPro, I think I can walk out here.
No problem at all.
Yeah, there’s some more ships over there. Orange ones. Look at the crows. They’re definitely following me.
They’re plotting my murder. That murder of crows. Wow, what a scene.
This one is never going to be functional again either. Look at that. It sank.
You don’t need to see me in the middle of all this amazing industrial scenery, but thought I’d flip the GoPro around just for a minute. And yeah, you can get a sense of scale of where I am. I mean, look at the size of this tire. Whatever it belonged to. And then you can see that sunken boat behind me. It’s crazy.
Yeah, I don’t really know about the deck. I mean, I’m just assuming I don’t have to worry about the deck even though it’s really rusted, it’s not like I’m going to step on a weak spot and fall through. At least I hope that’s the case.
Wow. Again, this piping just blows my mind. I wonder how loud it is on one of these barges when it was operating, when it was actually dredging. How loud are the engines that they need to suck up the ocean floor?
So now I have my Insta 360 X3 camera recording video and I have audio being recorded by my GoPro. I have to do that just because of the way this camera operates. And my idea is to now walk back to my bicycle, but record the whole trip in this 360 camera mode and then see what I can do with that video. It’s going to work out well, at least here at the start, because I’ve got to navigate this narrow. Ooh, look at that rope. It’s like brand new white looking rope. Well, it’s probably not new, but looks very clean. But yeah, I have to navigate this narrow gangplank, the bridge. And from a 360 camera, you’ll get, I guess, a better sense of what it’s like.
Okay. So, making sure to keep my thoughts on my feet rather than my camera. Just let the camera do its thing.
That’s the advantage of a 360 camera. You don’t have to worry about where it’s pointing really. You just have to hold it and let it record and then make it the rest of the way down this narrow gangplank. I guess from there you can see the ship and this narrow gangplank behind me. All right.
Extremely cool little adventure here on Planet Doug.
And this is this crazy rig. A dozen or maybe dozens of hoses and pumps.
Yeah, I suppose what they could be doing here is pumping out a slurry. Like pumping out a mixture of sand and water, like a fine spray. That’s probably what’s going on here. But again, as I said a couple of times already, when it comes to the engineering of land reclamation, no clue. I don’t know how it works.
It’s also the island of misfit water bottles and other plastic garbage of course stretches out all the way along the beach.
I can’t even guess how much that anchor weighs. No clue.
Looks almost like a homemade anchor. Like somebody welded that in their garage or something.
And I already walked up onto this barge, but 360 camera second visit.
I always like to go places two times. I see things that I missed on the first walk through.
And with the GoPro, I was mainly filming away from myself at the ships and the barges. With the 360 camera, I can do both. I can aim the camera at the barges and the ships, and I can also aim it back at me and get a bit of contrast. You can actually see where I am, where I’m walking.
Yeah, like this is something I didn’t notice when I walked through the first time cuz I knew this barge had sunk, but I didn’t see that opening down into the interior. And you can see that inside it’s completely flooded.
Wow. What a sight down there. What rust can do to steel. It’s pretty incredible. Just turns it into tissue paper, which again makes me think about the deck below me. I’m assuming it can support my weight, you know, but I don’t know. I am stepping a little bit carefully, just sort of feeling for any weak spots.
Yeah. On a really windy day with high seas, heavy waves, this would be quite an interesting experience. I think you’d see a lot more motion, ships being torn apart. And with a 360 camera, I can lower it inside.
I have no idea what’s down there, whether you can see anything at all, but at the very least you can look up to the top and perhaps see me staring down at you.
Coming up.
Yeah, there’s another hole in the ship right here beside it.
Yeah. And this area down here is being torn apart. Even with these small waves and heavy seas. Yeah. It all be torn apart.
And this is the gangplank that was making all the creaking sounds before. Very spooky sounds, but it’s not making any noise this time.
Oh. Oh, this is one of the more interesting ships that I saw. It has a crane built right on top of the deck. Very rusty, very atmospheric.
I’ve put my camera inside one of these barnacle filled holes in the side of the ship.
Yeah. What a scene.
This is interesting. I didn’t notice this my first time through either. Just a small motorboat sitting right here.
Yeah. And I don’t think it’s heading out to sea anytime soon either.
Very cool to get the contrast with this huge ship.
And I must admit that every time I see one of these propellers, I end up thinking, “Wow, look how huge that propeller is.” I mean, it looks big, but at the same time, it doesn’t look big enough all by itself to drive this huge ship, right? So, it looks big to me in human terms. It’s at least 6 ft across at least. And yet, it still doesn’t seem like it would have enough power to drive this boat. But, well, it does. And this rudder is the one thing that makes sure the ship goes in the direction that you want it to go. That’s pretty crazy, too. Just that flat piece of steel.
I really like the visual of this boat because it’s so beached. It’s been pulled up so far onto the shore. You can actually get right underneath the curve of the hull. So, you really get a sense of the scale and the shape of it.
Ocean Line 261.
All right.
And I guess out of most of the boats here, these three are the ones I’d have the most hope that they would eventually go out to sea someday. Here’s another style of anchor. Yeah, just a giant hook. A hook anchor.
And that mechanism that I mentioned that was lying on the ground, that long tube, curved tube. Here it is here on this boat. Ah, look at that. Okay, it’s not physically attached. They actually hold it alongside the boat with cables. Look at that. And then they can raise it up and down. Oh, I wonder if it goes all the way down to the bottom. Like the whole bottom swings free and then points straight down. Yeah. That’s how that works. Okay, now it’s all making sense to me. Yeah. I couldn’t figure out what this thing was for, but I’ll bet it has a hinge on it. Like a hinge at the far end and then the whole thing hinges downward.
Ah, I think so. There’s the massive anchor for this beast.
Wow. Four anchors, right? Look at that. Two on one side, one hanging, one pulled against the ship, and then there’s one hanging on the other side, but the one that was supposed to be coming out of this hole, it’s just not there. But yeah, four anchors on this side in total, man.
Yeah, you don’t really want to be underneath that at any time. Can you imagine if that thing ever came free, came crashing down?
And just before I say goodbye, I’m going to climb back up onto this barge again.
Yeah. From here, I just want to get a view as close to this other ship as I can. This blue and green one.
I’m actually on the other side of a wall. You can see the wall. So, I’m on the top deck of the barge, so I can’t see that boat, but I can raise my 360 above the wall. I kind of wanted to do it this way because I know that there are some men on board that ship and maybe if they saw me out here, they’d feel like it’s their responsibility to come talk to me and tell me I shouldn’t be here. But, they can’t see me. And, I still get a nice view of that ship with my 360 camera raised up above the wall.
So, just about to say goodbye to the island of misfit ships. Just have to walk down from this barge and then across that bridge over there. Yeah, I can still see my bicycle. It’s in the trees over there. Still there. And I have a bottle of water waiting for me. So yeah, with that I think this is the perfect place to end the video. As I said, my bicycle is just 50 yards ahead of me. Going to stop off for a delicious coconut shake. And that’ll be the end of this morning’s small adventures. Yeah, here comes a truck crossing the bridge. Hello. Entry. Oh, cannot go through here. Oh, okay. They cannot entry. Oh, not through here. Okay, thank you.
So, there you go. I think that was the same man that I saw at the security gate at the far end of the road. And then when I rode my bicycle in from that side, he said, “No, you can’t go this way.” So, I didn’t go that way. I just came in from a different direction.
But it’s pretty ironic that he saw me on the bridge, so he thought I was just on my way in. So, he was telling me, “No, you can’t go in there.” And but he doesn’t realize that I’ve already been in. And it was perfect timing because that was just when I was on my way out.
So, I just left from the island of abandoned ships, the ship graveyard of Melaka. And I’m rolling my bicycle along the shore where all the fishermen are hanging out.
Yeah, the weather today is just stunning. The light on the water is amazing. Actually getting different shades of green and turquoise, dark and light colors.
And just get a last look out towards the island of Misfit Ships.
You can see the different shades of green that I was talking about. Goes line after line out into the Malacca Strait.
So many huge ships out there. Most of them seem to be anchored. I haven’t seen any of them move. They’ve all been in the same location today.
Still chuckling over that encounter with the security guard cuz like I said, I think it was the same guy that I met at the far end. I was just riding my bike down a dirt road. Didn’t seem to be going anywhere special. And I ran into a very rudimentary shack and a guy, there was a car parked there and then that guy was there and he said, “Oh, you can’t go this way.” So, okay. So, I just turned around, but now he saw me today and I’m sure he recognized me, of course, and then he looked really confused. He kind looked like he wanted to talk to me and he looked at me. Hey, no, you can’t go here. Like how he wanted to ask me, how did you get here? He looked behind him like how did you get here? He doesn’t seem to be aware that there’s this massive open field that goes right over to the island. So, he seemed quite amazed like I was a magician or something and just showed up and he had no idea how in the world I got there. If I didn’t go past him, how in the world did I get there? But yeah, wasn’t very hard.