MUMBAI: HMS Bounty, the famous ship that was featured in Hollywood films like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man‘s Chest has gone down with huge waves churned up by hurricane Sandy off the North Carolina coast.
Only 13 of the 16 people aboard got off the ship safely, initially, and only one of the three washed overboard made it into a raft, Coast Guard Vice Admiral Robert Parker has reportedly said.
The Bounty‘s longtime captain, Robin Walbridge remained missing as night approached yesterday, Lt Mike Patterson, a coast guard spokesman was reported as saying. The body of the second, deckhand Claudine Christian, was found yesterday evening.
The 180-foot, three-mast ship, a replica of the famous British vessel, foundered about 144 kilometres off North Carolina as Sandy‘s fury churned the Atlantic into 18-foot seas, its owner, Bob Hansen, told CNN affilliate KUSA.
Hansen said Walbridge was attempting to head east, away from the hurricane, when the ship began taking on water. "At that time it wasn‘t considered an emergency, even though they had several feet of water inside the boat," he said.
The ship was built for the 1962 film version of Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando, and appeared in the 2006 blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man‘s Chest.
It was once owned by America‘s Cup winner and CNN founder Ted Turner, who acquired it in 1986 along with the rights to the MGM film library.