A
ghost ship, also known as a
phantom ship, is a
ship with no living crew aboard; it may be a
ghostly vessel in folklore or fiction, such as the
Flying Dutchman, or a real
derelict found adrift with its crew missing or dead under unknown circumstances, like the
Mary Celeste. The term is sometimes used for ships that have been
decommissioned but not yet
scrapped, as well as drifting boats that have been found after breaking loose of their ropes and becoming carried away by the wind or the waves.