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A “ghost ship” found mysteriously drifting near the Yangon region of Myanmar had been abandoned by its crew in bad weather, officials have said.

Myanmar officials were investigating after the large and rusty container vessel was discovered with no crew on board in the water near Myanmar’s commercial capital.

The navy has said the 177-metre long Sam Ratulangi PB 1600 was being towed by a tugboat to a ship-breaking factory in Bangladesh.

But the crew were forced to abandon the ship because of bad weather.

Navy personnel had searched the boat after it ran aground on a beach and were baffled by how such a large ship had ended up in Myanmar with no sailors or goods on board.

It was the first reported instance of an abandoned ship in Myanmar’s waters, according to the AFP news agency.

The navy has suspected that the ship had been towed by another ship because it found two cables at its head.

After questioning the Indonesian crew members on board a tugboat called Independence, about 50 miles from Myanmar’s coast, officials discovered they had been towing the ship since August 13 and were taking it to a factory in Bangladesh for it to be dismantled.

They said they were forced to abandon the boat because some of the cables towing the boat snapped in the bad weather.