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''Alkimos'' was a Greek-owned merchant ship which was wrecked on the coast north of Perth, Western Australia in 1963. A nearby locality was later named after the vessel. The wreck is a popular diving venue, and is also reputed to be haunted, making it of interest to ghost hunters as it is thought also to be a jinxed ship as it has brought a lot of bad luck to people who have gone on the ship itself. == History == The ship was built during World War II by Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards in Baltimore as part of the United States' Liberty ship program and was originally scheduled to be named ''George M. Shriver''. It was launched on October 11, 1943. However, on October 20, the vessel was reassigned to the Norwegian Shipping & Trade Mission, was re-christened ''Viggo Hansteen''.〔 and saw war service for about 18 months, primarily in the Mediterranean and was crewed by mariners of various nationalities. It served as a troopship and transported cargo, in convoys that were sometimes attacked by German aircraft and U-boats. A murder-suicide took place on board ''Viggo Hansteen'' in August 1944, while the ship was at Naples (some sources say Piombino);〔 Canadian radio operator Maude Steane is reported to have been shot by another crew member, who then killed himself. After the war it was sold to a Greek shipping company and renamed ''Alkimos'', after a word meaning "strong" and a Greek god, Álkimos. As ''Alkimos'', the ship plied the world's oceans for some two decades. In March 1963, the vessel was on a voyage from Jakarta to Bunbury when it struck a reef off the Western Australian coast. It was salvaged and towed to Fremantle, the port city for Perth, where it underwent repairs for two months. After settlement of a dispute concerning payment for the repairs, the ''Alkimos'' left Fremantle under tow by an ocean-going tug from Hong Kong. Only a few hours out of port, the tow line gave way and the ''Alkimos'' was driven onto the shore. Although the ship remained intact, it could not be floated off at that time, and so it was filled with water to secure it in place and left in the charge of an on-board caretaker. Another tug returned in January 1964 and the ship was refloated, but the planned journey to Manila had hardly begun when the tug was seized at sea by authorities and the ''Alkimos'' was left anchored. In May 1964, the vessel broke anchor and was driven onto the Eglinton Rocks near present-day Yanchep. On this occasion it was more severely damaged, and all thought of salvaging it intact was abandoned. It was later sold by the owners for scrap. However, in 1969, salvage workers were driven off the wreck by a fire. One of the salvage workers also reported hearing ghostly noises. After that time, the partly dismantled remains of the ship sat in several metres of water, visible to visitors, but gradually disintegrating. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alkimos (ship)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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